Recovery
by lordtrayus
Summary: After Cody and Bailey break up for good, Zack is there for his little brother when he needs him. Just a little story I fancied writing, though it could develop from a two-shot into something bigger depending on how it goes! Enjoy, and please review!
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Suite Life**

Recovery

Zack frowned. It was not a whole day since his twin brother Cody had split up from his girlfriend Bailey Pickett, due to some misunderstanding whilst the ship was docked in Paris. After Cody had returned to the ship, he had just gone to his room, and according to Woody, had spent most of the night crying. Zack pondered this as he stood outside his brothers cabin, contemplating going in to see his little brother. He knew he was hurting, and despite the sometimes unfeeling demeanour he showed, he actually really loved his little brother, younger by a whole ten minutes, and wanted to cheer him up and help him through this.

And he was worried about him now. He knew that Cody had fallen in love with Bailey from day one, and now that they had broken up he had to be hurting a lot. Zack hesitated at the door, his hand stopping halfway to it. Cody had always been the more sensitive of the twins, and he was probably still quite weepy. Zack himself rarely cried, and if he did he usually used it to pull girls, who thought it was cute that a boy would show his feelings. And he even more rarely comforted people, unless they were girls.

But his brother did need him right now, so taking a deep breath and bracing himself for the worst, he knocked and entered. His brother needed him.

As Zack entered, he became aware of something slightly concerning. His twin was nowhere to be seen. His bed was unmade, which Cody never did in his right mind, and Woody's clothes were all over the floor, which Cody ordinarily would not stand for.

"Cody?" he called hopefully, hoping his brother was in the bathroom, and was just feeling too depressed to clean.

There was no answer, and Zack hated to admit it to himself, but he was slightly worried. It wasn't as if he thought Cody would do anything but stupid...but he might do something not very smart. And that was more his field of expertise. Cody was normally the smart one. But a broken hearted Cody...

Worriedly, Zack headed to find his brother.

XX

Cody sat in the planetarium. This was one of his favourite places, probably his favourite place on the entire ship. He could just look up at the projection of the stars, and he always found it soothing. And today he needed soothing a lot.

Bailey, the most beautiful girl he had ever set eyes on, had broken up with him, on the same day as their one year anniversary. She was smart, sassy, an excellent singer, slightly nerdy just like him, and she had a sweetness about her that he had found adorable. But now it was over. She had seen him talking to London and had assumed the worst, and he had done the same when he saw her with Jean-Luc. They had had fights before this, but nothing quite so bad. And now they had split up and it was most likely that they didn't want to see each other again.

As he looked up at the image of Saturn, staring at the rings to try and make himself forget the girl that he had now lost, tears welled in his eyes. He had lost her. After falling so hard for her when they had first come on board the ship, after working so hard to win her heart...he had now lost her.

Feeling depressed, so depressed that even star gazing couldn't make him feel happier, Cody rolled over and let the tears flow onto the carpet beneath him. Depression, hurt, guilt and despair rushed through him in equal measure as the tears flooded down his face, pooling on the carpet beneath him as he lay with his face down. Sobs wracked his body as everything caught up with him. He had spent most of the previous night crying, and now here he was, at it again, the tide of despair threatening to crush him under its weight. He had lost Bailey, all because of some stupid argument that made no sense now that he looked on it in hindsight. But he knew there was no going back this time. They had broken up before, but this time, there had been a terrible finality to their relationship that squeezed his heart like a vice, threatening to crush it entirely.

Cody sobbed louder, and as he did so he failed to hear the door to the planetarium open.

XX

Zack looked sadly down at his crying brother. For a moment, he was glad that he didn't allow himself to fall in such a way for girls. But Cody...he was always going to be the one who had his heart shattered by some girl. Zack just wished it wasn't Bailey. She and Cody had been perfect for each other. Both ridiculously smart, both slightly nerdy in a sort of sweet way, both made for each other. And she actually made Cody happy, in ways that he had never been with Barbara. Fair enough, in Zack's opinion, Bailey was a whole lot hotter than Cody's last long term relationship anyway, but something about the two of them together just fit.

And now it was over. He had seen London on his way up here and she had told him that Bailey had howled all night, so much so that she could now to a good impression of a panda. Typical London there then. But he knew that in her own odd way London did care about Bailey and wanted to help her too, just like he wanted to help Cody.

Zack looked at his little brother, and wondered what he should do. A tiny part of him was crying '_run for the hills_', but the part that truly loved his little brother knew he couldn't. So, although he had no clue as to how he would go about calming his brother down or cheering him up, he headed into the planetarium and sat down beside Cody. Cody didn't even notice him as he was still crying onto his hands, and Zack then, not even realising he was doing, started to gently stroke the back of Cody's blond hair, a slightly darker shade than his own.

"Bailey?" Cody asked mid sob, his head rising a little bit.

"Sorry to disappoint you buddy, but it's just me." Zack said sadly, profoundly wishing that he could at least be a girl so he might have a better chance of comforting his brother.

Cody sat up, and Zack felt an unfamiliar flicker of hatred for Bailey. He was good friends with her...but she had made Cody into a mess. Yes, he had split up with her as much as she had with him, but he couldn't even bring himself to blame Cody for this. And things were really bad for him when he couldn't bring himself to pick on his little brother.

Cody's eyes were red rimmed, his fair coloured face was streaked with grimy tear stains. He had changed into a black top with a black hoody. His jeans were also black, and Zack had to bite back a retort about him being dressed for a funeral, knowing that would just further depress his brother.

"Oh, hey Zack...what are you doing here?" he asked miserably, wiping his cheeks with the back of his hand, trying to look a little more macho in front of his twin.

"Making sure you're ok." His twin reported earnestly, and Cody looked slightly suspicious, as if he didn't believe that his brother would actually care that his heart had been broken, as if he was expecting Zack just to say 'get over it'.

"Really? Don't you just want me to write some damn book report for you to add to my misery?" he sniffed.

Zack looked down slightly in shame. Yes, he usually did rely on Cody to write his book reports, and he knew he probably deserved this to be asked of him. But even he wasn't so heartless that he would make his brother do his homework for him when he felt so down.

"No I don't. I came to check on you Cody. I'm worried about you, I thought you might do something dumb." He said quietly, and Cody looked at him sadly.

Then without meaning to, without knowing what he was doing, Zack sat beside his brother and pulled him to him in a hug. Cody gave a sniff and rested his head on Zack's shoulder and resumed his sobbing. Zack thought about pulling away from his crying brother, but that would probably just make Cody more upset, as he would think that he couldn't rely on his twin. So, rather than pulling away and putting his arm down, Zack instead pulled Cody closer to him and hugged him tightly, letting him cry on his shoulder. Cody sobbed, his tears staining the shoulder of Zack's tshirt, allowing himself to be hugged by his brother in a way that they hadn't hugged for a very long time. Cody cried, and Zack started rubbing Cody's back gently, trying to soothe him. Zack looked sadly at his brother.

It was a sad day when he of all people didn't have the heart to pick on his baby brother. He couldn't bring himself to add more hurt and despair to his baby brother when he was already in such a mess.

"It'll be alright Cody." He said firmly, willing his brother to believe it.

Cody just sniffed some more, and Zack wrapped his other arm around his baby brother, hugging him tightly as his brother sobbed his heart out. Zack wanted nothing more than to make his brother's pain go away. He felt so hopeless. His brother was so hurt and sad...and he couldn't do anything. And that made him feel bad. Vaguely, despite the fact that he didn't like what had happened between her and his brother, he hoped Bailey was doing slightly better than Cody was.

But for now, all he could do was be here for his brother. Hoping that what his mom had used to do to calm them down would work, he started to rock his twin, while rubbing his back with one hand and gently stroking his hair with the other. Eventually, Cody's sobbing lessened, and Zack smiled slightly as he saw that his brother was asleep. He looked so peaceful, unbothered by the sadness in his heart.

"I won't hurt you like that little brother." Zack promised, and kissed Cody's forehead gently.

Cody moaned a little in response, and the small sound was so full of pain that Zack had to blink away tears from his own eyes. His brother was too good a person to feel this low. He wanted to make him better again. He just didn't know how. His brother was hurting so much...and he could do nothing. His brother was full of pain...and he didn't know how to make the pain go away.

All he could do was hug him and be a shoulder for him to cry on. That wasn't normally what Zack did, but the situation demanded it. And the little moan of pain that came out his brother's lips next finally broke Zack's shell and he too started to cry.

"Oh Cody..." he whispered sadly, wishing the entire breakup had never happened.

"Zack...don't leave..." Cody said in a small, watery voice, mumbling in his sleep.

Zack looked down at his baby brother.

"Not a chance Cody." He said, and kissed his brother's head again and gently laid back, guiding Cody's sleeping form so that it lay beside his.

Cody wriggled a little, snuggling into his twin, and Zack didn't mind. It wasn't as if anyone would come in here, aside from maybe Miss Tutweiller. And she would probably think it was sweet. After all, the entire ship knew of the breakup, and he couldn't be blamed for consoling his brother.

As such, Zack continued to rub his brother's back and snuggled up to him, eventually falling asleep himself.

**Well hello!**

**This is a first for me, but watching the Disney channel is a slight indulgence of mine, and I fancied giving this a shot, so here I am!**

**Just a little bit of Zack comforting Cody after Breakup in Paris, a little brotherly caring for his upset brother. And I thought their scene in Going Bananas was really sweet, which also partly inspired this.**

**At the moment this could just be a two shot, but I'll see how it goes! If you like it, please review, and I might see about expanding it!**

**Hope you like!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Suite Life**

Recovery

"Dang it!" Woody moaned as Marcus entered, to see his friend looking under Cody's bed.

"What's up?" his friend, the former rap star Lil'Little asked curiously.

Woody pointed to Cody's unmade, empty bed as he stood up.

"I haven't seen Cody for ages, and now it's nearly past curfew and I don't know where he is! This isn't like him! It's because he split up with Bailey, he's gone off the deep end!" Woody said in panic.

Marcus patted the air to try and calm him down enough to get a word in.

"Woody, calm down! I don't know where Zack is either." He admitted sheepishly.

He did have to agree with Woody. Cody and Bailey had been perfect for each other...and now that they had split up it had had a horrible effect on the two of them. Earlier, he had seen London going to the shop for what she said was the sixth box of tissues she had had to buy that day. And considering how long it normally took London to count, that must have been a lot of hard work. But at least she was helping Bailey. The lot of them formed a group on the ship, and Marcus worried about how it would affect the entire dynamic of the group. Zack he knew would stick by his brother no matter what. But Marcus had a crush on London, and Woody usually got on very well with Bailey and London as well, so how would the two of them deal with this? Would Cody and Bailey even be friends again? He hoped so. The group had too much fun together and had too many adventures together for them to split apart. And he didn't like to think of the closeness Cody and Bailey had just disappearing because they were no longer dating.

"What, he's not there either? Where are they? The aliens must have gotten them and we're next!" Woody yelled in panic, raising his hands above his head.

"Look dude, calm down, there are no aliens! We just need to go find them, we just need to think of something." Marcus said worriedly.

"Well what do we do? It's nearly curfew, Zack and Cody are missing, and it's probably because of the break up that we can't find them. What if Cody's done something stupid?" Woody cried, grabbing Marcus' shirt.

Marcus cuffed him on the ear, and Woody let go, blinking, looking as if he didn't know what had happened.

"Look, get a grip! Even if Cody is somewhere and is an emotional wreck, Zack is probably with him as we can't find him. So all we need to do is go and talk to Miss Tutweiller and ask her if she's seen them ok?" he asked calmly, and Woody nodded, following his friend from the room.

"I bet they've been taken by aliens..." Woody said as they did so, and Marcus rolled his eyes.

XX

Miss Tutweiller, the red headed teacher of Seven Seas High, frowned into the sky as the ship travelled towards Tunisia, where they were next bound on the leg of the tour. Her two best students, Cody and Bailey, who had been dating for the last year, had broken up while the ship had been docked in Paris. The city of love had become the city of heartbreak for them. She had seen the two of them when they had come back to the ship, both of them in tears and running towards their cabins.

She sighed forlornly. She knew heartbreak all too well. Unfortunately most of her boyfriends had all either dumped her, or had run off with her more attractive sister. And that left enough of a sting.

But with Cody and Bailey it was different. It was as if they were made for each other. They both had similar interests, were both exceptionally clever...they seemed made for each other. From what little she had been able from being to eavesdrop London, Marcus and Woody's conversation in class today (which as a teacher, she felt honour bound to do), the entire thing had been over some misunderstanding or other. She sighed. Poor kids. Their first true heartbreak.

She then realised something. Zack hadn't been in class this afternoon, and while that wasn't exactly unusual, both Bailey and Cody hadn't been. She supposed heartbreak was a fair enough excuse to miss class just the one day. But...it was odd. Cody and Bailey, easily her two best students, had never missed a lesson. And then, the small part that was concerned about her grade tables at the end of the year, wondered what their breakup would do to their marks. But she was more concerned for them as people rather than pupils. They were both very good kids, very sweet, and didn't deserve to feel as down as a breakup would leave them.

"Miss Tutweiller!" a voice called, making her jump.

"Oh Woody, Marcus, don't do that! It's rude to sneak up on people! And anyway, it's nearly curfew, the two of you should be in your cabins." She scolded lightly.

Marcus shook his head.

"Look, we know we're meant to be, but we're worried about Zack and Cody. We haven't seen them all day, Cody hasn't even made his bed and Zack hasn't come back either." He explained.

Miss Tutweiller looked at him in alarm. Zack out after curfew...no cause for concern. But she had listened to Mr Moseby's rants about the boys enough to know that the two of them absent at curfew could possibly mean trouble. But as Cody was going through a breakup...

"Oh my. Right, you two, return to your cabins, I'll go and alert Mr Moseby and try to find the boys." She said consolingly.

"We can help look..." Woody said, but she shook her head.

"No, it's alright Woody. We'll find them between us. We don't need you two in trouble as well." She said kindly.

"But they're our mates." Marcus argued.

Miss Tutweiller looked at them sympathetically. They were only concerned about their friends and wanted to help. She nodded reluctantly. They had to find Mr Moseby.

"Come on." She said, and she hurried inside, leaving the star strewn night behind as they went to find the absentee twins.

XX

"Moseby, I need help!" London moaned as she exited the lift and entered the reception area, clad in one of her usual one of a kind dresses, complete with handbag.

Moseby finished a pre-booking form and looked up at the daughter of his boss, who he seemed to be more of a father to than her own father.

"Yes London, what is it?" he asked curiously, filing away the form.

London looked down sadly, as she frequently did when she didn't know what to do and was hoping that a solution would suddenly present itself.

"It's Bailey. She's still crying! I can't get her to stop!" she wailed.

Moseby looked at her pityingly.

"London, Bailey is dealing with a breakup. For all intents and purposes, I think Bailey and Cody were in love and they are both finding this breakup very hard to deal with." He said consolingly.

London looked miserably.

"I know, and I know she's hurting...but it's just weird seeing her like this! She's normally so happy...like Maddie but country! And now she's just a wreck, and she's been crying all day and I just want her to be Bailey again." London moaned.

Moseby nodded.

"I know you do, but you'll just have to give her time London. She only broke up with Cody yesterday, and he seems to be taking it very hard as well. They're just dealing with broken hearts, and you can't force them to move on before they're ready. You just have to be a kind and sympathetic friend." He said wisely, and London looked put out.

"Oh, you're right, as usual. But normally when me or daddy are upset, I go shopping, and he buys out other companies!" she said brightly.

Moseby smiled a little and rolled his eyes in the endless exasperation he felt at the ditzy girl.

"Yes, but I think that will be rather difficult for Bailey and Cody. Neither of them are rich enough to buy out a company, and I doubt either of them feel up to shopping that much." He said shrewdly, smiling as he did so.

"Wow...it must suck getting your heart broken if you're poor." she commented, and Moseby had to suppress a sigh. There was just no way past the snobbish part of her, despite the fact that she was actually a good hearted soul.

The lift dinged again, and Moseby looked up to see a thoroughly depressed looking Bailey. Her eyes were red rimmed and puffy, her clothes were all in black, a black top, black tights and black skirt and she looked as if she was about to cry again. He put on a sympathetic look. Poor kids. He had a great deal of affection for both her and Cody, and wished they hadn't broken up. By all rights the two of them seemed right for each other. He had known Cody for years, and knew he was the more sensitive, caring and loving out of the two twins, and knew this had to be hurting him as much as it seemed to be hurting Bailey. And she was a fine, sweet girl who adored Cody as much as he adored her, and that just made it all the worse.

"Oh Bailey, how are you?" he asked gently, and she looked at him sadly.

"I'm...I'm ok Mr Moseby. I just came up for some air." She said softly, avoiding his eyes with her own pain filled ones.

Moseby was about to say something as she headed for the gangway outside when Miss Tutweiller, Woody and Marcus barged into reception from the other door.

"Mr Moseby, we have a problem!" Miss Tutweiller said in a high voice.

Moseby looked at London questioningly, then shrugged.

"No, it is her. She hasn't escaped." He said disdainfully.

Tutweiller rolled her eyes.

"No, not with London for a change." She said irritably.

"Hey, I have only tried to escape twice in the last three months!" London protested indignantly.

Tutweiller ignored her.

"Zack and Cody aren't anywhere to be found!" she wailed.

Moseby made a noise of panic, attributed to his days from chasing them around the Tipton. Back then it had normally meant that the boys were plotting some new scheme that would only wind up embarrassing him in front of the guests or making his life difficult. But, since they had come aboard, they had been a lot kinder to his usually frayed nerves. And Cody had hardly pulled any pranks since coming here, and hadn't even been roped into Zack's schemes since he'd started dating Bailey. Worry for the boys spread through him. Yes, they exasperated them. Yes, they raised his blood pressure. But he was still incredibly fond of them, and he felt a sort of kinship to Cody. And as he employed their mother, if they had gone missing...well her somewhat dubious singing would be the least of his worries.

Before he could respond, Bailey let out a howl and burst into tears again. Tutweiller winced as Bailey cried, and her friends looked at her sadly as she covered her face with her hands and howled.

"This is my fault, he's disappeared because of me!" she shouted hysterically, and Moseby was impressed when London went to her and put an arm around her and actually managed to look sympathetic.

"No he didn't, he's just...gone off somewhere..." she said lamely, shooting a dirty look at Moseby as if it was his fault and walked Bailey to the lift, where she disappeared, her cries echoing as it descended.

"How can you be so insensitive?" Tutweiller demanded in annoyance.

"Well I wasn't to know that as soon as I mentioned his name she'd break down was I?" he retorted irritably.

"Don't you know what it's like to have your heart broken by someone you really love?" Tutweiller demanded passionately, and Moseby shot her a dirty look.

"Of course I do! But she did it as much as him!" he reminded her triumphantly, holding his finger up to emphasise his point.

"Typical man, always trying to bring the woman into it!" she said with a high voice.

"Well actually..." Woody began, but Marcus put his hand on his mouth, just as Moseby prepared to counter again.

"Oh no, we don't want to get involved in this one buddy, trust me." He advised, and he could see that if things didn't stop soon, it would get ugly.

"The men are never good enough for them it's always 'put the seat down' or 'wash the car' or 'get the washing in'..." Moseby ranted.

"No it isn't! And even if it was, you still don't do all those things which is what annoys the women you ignoramus!" she yelped.

Moseby took a step back, clutching his chest. Marcus then whistled before he could retort.

"People! Missing twins!"

Tutweiller and Moseby looked down in embarrassment.

"Oh yes, you're right...I spent so many years trying to forget them that when I actually need to remember them I forget about them!" Moseby lamented.

"Right, I'll look in the dining hall!" Woody said, and ran off.

Moseby and Tutweiller looked at each other, and then at Marcus.

"He's not going to go looking is he?" she asked.

"No, he's going to look for something. But not the twins. Leftovers." Moseby said disdainfully.

"Right, I'll go and look in the library and all the classrooms, Cody might be in there." Tutweiller said and headed off.

"I'll go and search the engine rooms and other quiet places for him." Moseby said.

Marcus looked at Moseby as he headed for the door.

"And what about Zack?" he asked.

"Look wherever there's girls." Moseby advised tartly as he left.

Marcus grinned.

"Hey, that ain't half bad." He said happily and headed off himself.

XX

London looked down sadly at Bailey, who had cried herself to sleep, partly through guilt over Cody's disappearing act. The poor girl was taking the breakup really hard. Bailey was her friend, despite how much she complained about her. And all she wanted was to make her feel better, but she didn't know how. Bailey clearly missed Cody. And while London didn't know why she had fallen so hard for him...she had known Cody for years and didn't see what she saw in him. Marcus on the other hand...

Anyway, she needed to fix Bailey. She didn't know how to do it. She needed someone who knew about breakups, someone who could fix Bailey better than she could. Sure, London had broken up with boys before, but not the way Bailey and Cody had broken up. The two of them seemed to really be in love with each other. Then, it dawned on her. After her first break up, she had had Maddie with her at the Tipton, and Maddie had cheered her up. And as she couldn't remember exactly what she had done, who better to ask than Maddie herself?

"Phone!" London said, holding out her hand.

A few minutes later, when her phone still hadn't jumped into her hand magically like she had expected, she got up and picked it up. She quickly dialled the number.

"Hey, London, how are you?" Maddie asked brightly.

"Maddie, stop whatever you're doing and get to the Tipton!" London barked.

Maddie laughed.

"That'll be a bit hard to do, if I do that I'll cause a traffic jam." She said in amusement.

"I didn't know you could drive." London said in surprise.

"No, I'm not driving, I'm at the shop, if I stop I'll be blocking the aisle. Why do you need me to come to the Tipton anyway? Aren't you on the ship?" she asked curiously.

"Yes. But I need help!" London moaned, sitting down on her bed and looking sadly at her sleeping roommate.

"How, what's wrong?" Maddie asked in concern, fearing that her friend was in some sort of trouble...but if it was because she was fed up of sea school she would be very annoyed.

"It's Bailey. She's been in a state the last two days, and nothing I can do will cheer her up, she's so depressed!" London said sadly.

"Ok, confused. Surely if she's upset, she should go to Cody? Remember, we're talking about the boy who sent me a twelve page email telling us of how he finally won Bailey's heart." She said, smiling at the memory.

London sighed.

"No one who knows them wouldn't give a diamond to go back to then. They broke up in Paris." London lamented.

"Oh no." Maddie moaned in despair.

The two of them seemed right for each other, and it was clear that the two of them adored each other, and Maddie could see from Cody's emails that no one would ever treat her better or love her more than he did.

"What happened?" she asked with a groan.

"Some big blow up. But I need your help! Bailey's a mess, Cody's gone walkabout with Zack. She just keeps crying, and so does he! Zack's been looking after him, but I reckon he could use some help, and so could I!" London wailed.

Maddie sighed.

"Yeah, it sounds really bad London. But I'm in Boston. And you're...where exactly?" Maddie asked in confusion.

"We're going to Tunafish!" London announced happily.

"Tunafish? Where's that?" Maddie asked incredulously, hoping she could maybe identify wherever the devil they were going through simple deduction.

"It's in you know, the place where they get the diamonds!"

"What, Africa?" Maddie asked.

"Yeah, that's it! We're going to Tunafish in Africa." She concluded.

Maddie thought about it seriously, then it dawned on her.

"Oh, you mean Tunisia!" she said in realisation.

"There too. So will you come and help me with Bailey?" London asked sweetly.

Maddie scoffed incredulously. While London might be able to afford to go half way across the world on a whim, she certainly couldn't. Even if she really did miss Zack...

And while she did want to help Bailey and Cody, and actually help London be nice to someone other than herself, it just wasn't possible.

"London, I can't just go halfway across the world, even though I want to help. And who would watch the candy counter?" she asked sadly.

"Is Nia there?" London asked suddenly.

"Yeah, she is, why?"

"Well beg her to cover your shift, and beg Carey to let you come! I'll get my helicopter to fly you here!"

Maddie pulled the phone away from her ear and looked at in surprise. London was willing to pull out all the stops in order to help them...and Maddie did have some holiday time to take...and as Cody was hurting too Carey would want someone else to be there for him...and Bailey was her friend to. And who could say no when London was doing something really nice?

"Alright, I'll do it! Give me an hour to pack some stuff."

"Thanks Maddie, you're the best. See you soon!" London said happily.

Maddie shook her head in wonder. Bailey and Cody must really be bad if London was willing to go to all this trouble. And she deserved a break, and she wanted to help.

And she also wanted to see Zack again. After they had parted last time, she had found herself missing him more and more, and when she had kissed him...

Smiling at the thought, she quickly finished the shopping and headed for home to pack her bags.

XX

Miss Tutweiller was getting incredibly worried. The search party had still not found the twins and they were all getting very worried. Had Cody and Zack somehow gotten off the boat? Or had Cody perhaps done something stupid? Normally he wouldn't be the type...but this had really broken his heart.

Kirby, the large bald security guard, came rushing up to her.

"Oh Kirby, have you seen them yet?" she asked hysterically.

"Nuh uh Miss Tutweiller, I've checked everywhere, and they definitely aren't in the buffet room, Woody and I both checked there lots of times." He lamented.

The lift dinged and Moseby stepped out, looking incredibly concerned.

"I can't find them either. Have you had any luck?" he demanded weakly, and she could see that he was really very concerned about the boys.

"None I'm afraid." She admitted, and Kirby looked downcast.

Moseby looked skyward.

"Please, I know I've begged you before for them to vanish, but I don't actually want them to do it! I really do care about them, and despite how terribly annoying they are, I actually do want them back! And I would actually miss them if they weren't around!" he moaned to the heavens.

"I'd miss the little guys too." Kirby called up to the sky outside.

Miss Tutweiller looked up and was about to add that she too would miss the boys when it hit her. The stars were out in force tonight, a clear night. And as such, it was obvious where Cody would have gone if he felt down...and hopefully Zack had gone to look after his brother. It actually surprised her that they hadn't thought to check there already.

"I think I know where they are, come on." She said, and curious, Moseby and Kirby followed.

And sure enough, when the door to the planetarium slid open, there they were. She and Moseby sighed in relief, while Kirby let out a whoop of victory.

"Shhh...I may have wanted them back but that doesn't mean I want them awake." Moseby said quietly.

"Aww, how sweet." Tutweiller said, smiling at the scene.

Zack had his arms protectively around Cody, who was snuggled up into Zack's embrace. Zack's hand was resting on Cody's neck, as if he had been stroking his brother's hair before he had fallen asleep. Cody had small tear stains on his cheeks, and even Zack had a couple.

"Poor little guy." She said sadly, feeling for him.

She then glided into the planetarium.

"Don't wake them!" Moseby moaned weakly, but she didn't intend to.

She walked over to the lectern and pulled the velvet cover off of it, then laid it down on top of the boys gently. Cody stirred a little bit, and Tutweiller winced, thinking he was going to wake up, while Moseby and Kirby moaned, but for different reasons.

"Bailey..." he whispered, and the sheer amount of pain in his small voice made Tutweiller's throat constrict and she had to run out of the room before she burst into tears.

Moseby gently took her arm and patted it, while she wiped her eyes on the handkerchief he proffered, while Kirby took out a hanky from his pocket and blew his nose in a sound like a foghorn.

"Sorry...it's just so sad..." he said sadly, hating seeing one of his little buddies like this.

"I know, I know." Tutweiller moaned, tears in her own voice, and not liking the situation at all.

"Shh, look." Moseby said, sounding odd.

Cody gave another little moan, but Zack simply wrapped his arms a teeny bit tighter and Cody stopped stirring and drifted back into a deep sleep.

"Aww..." Tutweiller cooed.

"In all the years I've known them, I've never seen Zack do something so sweet for Cody." Moseby commented, his eyes glassy as he looked at them.

"How do you mean?" Kirby asked curiously.

"Well never before have I seen Zack actively seek Cody out and just be there for him, get all protective like this. It's quite...nice." Moseby finished lamely, a small smile on his lips.

And he then raised his phone and took a picture. The flash didn't even bother the twins, and he quickly sent the picture to their mother.

"Kirby, I don't want the boys disturbed. Could you stand guard?" he asked, and Kirby nodded.

"Of course Mr Moseby. No one will wake up those little dudes!" he said firmly, and sat himself on a chair right beside the door.

"At least we found them, safe and sound." Tutweiller said.

"Indeed. Now come along Emma. I will go and pry Marcus away from whichever one of his girl hotspots he was looking for Zack in, and you can go and lure Woody away from the late-night buffet hall." He said with a smile.

"Alright. And I'll post a little note through to Bailey...just to let her know he's ok." She said.

Moseby smiled at her.

"Yes, I think that would be nice." He said, and offered his arm to her, which she took, and the two set off.

XX

"Well why not cut him out of all your pictures? Girlfriends who've been dumped do that don't they?" London asked Bailey brightly the next morning.

Bailey looked miserably at London. She was only trying to make her feel better. When she had found Miss Tutweiller's note, she had felt loads of different emotions. Annoyance that he had vanished, guilt for being the cause of that, sympathy because she felt like vanishing do, thanks that Zack was there for him, jealousy of Zack, relief that he was alright...it was all very strange.

She kept going over the night of their breakup. He had thought she had been getting cozy with Jean-Luc, while she had thought he was getting cozy with London. And then it had gone into a big fight, where they had said things that were bound to hurt each other...along with the shoes that had fallen randomly from the sky...and in anger Bailey had suggested that they break up. She hadn't actually wanted to, she had just wanted to go and calm down. But Cody had been angry too and he had done something she hadn't expected, and had asked her if she wanted to break up. And when he didn't answer with a no because he was so angry, and because she didn't do the same either, that had ended their relationship. Tears gathered in her eyes just thinking about it.

She hadn't wanted to, but because she had been so angry it had come out, and it had just gotten worse. That, along with the fact that he had been cheating on her with London, and the insult that he had thought she was doing the same to him with Jean-Luc, had made her not give a negative answer. She didn't want to break up with him. And it hurt so badly that she couldn't stand it. She didn't know how she was going to manage their classes together, seeing him every day. The problem with dating friends is that if things ended badly...and this definitely had...then how could things go back to the way they were?

Bailey thought of all the things Cody had done for her, like going to so much trouble to get her a ticket to Hannah Montana's concert in Hawaii, buying her those earrings, saving her from the spirit of some princes...and howled. They had said such horrible things to each other, and had broken up...and they had never wanted to. They had been happy before they had gone to Paris. Yes, they had had their fights but they had always come through for each other in the end. And Cody adored her...and she adored him. But now what? They had broken up...was it too late?

"Oh Bailey..." London said, not knowing what she could do as her friend cried her eyes out again. She was actually surprised she had any eyes left to cry out.

She then handed Bailey a picture of her and Cody together, and a pair of baby scissors, as Moseby and Tutweiller wouldn't let her use big girl scissors.

"Cut him out!" she said encouragingly.

Bailey looked at the picture. Cody had his arm around her and her head was on his shoulder. Both of them were smiling happily. And they both looked so in love. Why couldn't things have just stayed that way? Cody...

And Bailey promptly howled into tears again, making London sigh in defeat and sit down opposite her friend and wonder how the hell she was going to cheer her up.

XX

Zack slowly woke up, and wondered what the hell his arms were around. _Oops, never done that with a girl before_, he thought worriedly, until he opened his eyes and saw his sleeping twin, and remembered everything. His poor brother, heartbroken by his breakup with Bailey, and he had come to comfort him and had wound up falling asleep with him.

"Cody..." he called softly, and his brother woke up, and Zack could immediately see from Cody's eyes that his brother was depressed.

"Hey Zack...what time is it?" he asked groggily, waking up and shaking his tousled blond hair.

"I don't know, where did this come from?" Zack asked, pulling off the lectern cloth.

Cody stood up and stretched.

"Um...Zack?" he asked quietly as Zack pulled himself to his feet.

"Yeah bro?" he asked, thinking his brother was going to ask him about Bailey.

"Thanks for that." He said with a small, sad smile.

Zack grinned and hugged his brother firmly, and he smiled a little more as Cody relaxed into the embrace.

"Any time buddy." He said.

Zack then stood back from his brother. And on closer inspection, while Cody's eyes still had a lot of pain in them he didn't look like he was about to burst into tears all the time. He looked a teeny bit happier. Not much, but maybe enough so that he wouldn't burst into tears thinking about the breakup.

"You ok?" he asked gently, and Cody shrugged.

"I don't know. I think so." He said uncertainly, looking away from his brother.

Translation: he wasn't going to be on the verge of tears all the time, but he still wasn't even beginning to get over it.

"It'll be alright bro." Zack said kindly, clapping Cody's shoulder.

"Thanks Zack." He said with another small smile.

The two of them headed out of the planetarium, passing a sleeping Kirby, who was snoring loudly, and headed back for their cabins.

XX

"Bailey...are you ok?" Miss Tutweiller asked as she came out onto the sky deck.

Bailey nodded slightly.

"I suppose so Miss Tutweiller." She said.

London had finally persuaded her to come outside to get some fresh air, and Bailey did have to admit, it was doing her some good. While most of the guests either didn't know or care what had happened, their entire class did know, and that apparently included Miss Tutweiller. But Bailey supposed she didn't mind their teacher knowing, and if how bad she felt affected her schoolwork, she might be lenient.

"It'll be alright Bailey. You and C..." before she could finish, London placed her hand over her teacher's mouth.

Miss Tutweiller arched an eyebrow at her, and London whispered.

"Don't mention the C word! It upsets her. So does saying Cody!" she explained, and Bailey's lip quivered a little.

Tutweiller looked at London curiously, wondering what on earth the other C word was.

"She didn't want to cut up pictures either." London lamented.

Tutweiller smiled at the ditzy hotel heiress.

"Just be there for her London. That's all she needs right now is her friends around her." She said kindly.

"What happens if it's one of her friends that's made her into this mess though?" London moaned as Bailey went to get them smoothies.

Miss Tutweiller had to admit that she didn't have an answer to that one. London headed over to Bailey, and a thought occurred to her. She had thought that Bailey and Cody had been really close as boyfriend and girlfriend...but could it be possible that they had actually truly fallen in love with each other? There were people who dated, such as her ex boyfriends, who said that they loved her, but it was clear that they hadn't meant it. But Cody and Bailey...

Was it possible that rather than their first bad breakup they were in fact in such a state because they had truly fallen in love with each other? Cody and Bailey...two people basically perfectly suited for each other...it did make sense. And the way the two of them looked at each other across the class, or the way that they smiled each other...and everything they did for each other, including what she had later found out was a wild goose chase for an imaginary crocodile...

That was it. That was why this had hit the two of them so hard. They were in love!

Eagerly, she went to find Mr Moseby.

XX

"Zack, Cody!" Moseby called as they were about to head down to the sky deck.

"Uh oh...busted." Zack moaned, and he and Cody turned to see Moseby strolling towards them, in a blue jacket today with a red hanky in his pocket.

"Oh Mr Moseby...I know we missed an entire day and that we're in deep trouble...but can you just tell us our punishment and get it over with?" Cody moaned miserably.

Moseby smiled slightly.

"Absolutely nothing."

"See, that's what happens...wait, did you just say we weren't in trouble?" Zack asked suspiciously.

Moseby smiled slightly.

"Yes. While you did miss an entire day of school, cause us to have a panicky chase for you last night and also force me not to open the planetarium," he said, and Zack felt a rush of gratitude towards him, "I know that it probably did some good. And actually, a prank free day was sheer bliss!" he said happily.

"Aww, don't worry Mr Moseby, I'll just have to make up for it!" Zack said brightly, and Cody smiled a little.

"No, no you don't!" he said in panic.

"So we're not in trouble?" Cody asked uncertainly, and Moseby shook his head.

"No Cody. But I suggest you go and clean yourselves up a little and at least try to look halfway presentable." He suggested, and Cody left, but Moseby put a hand on Zack's shoulder, preventing him going anywhere.

"Aww Mr Moseby, if you're worried about me pulling any pranks..." he said soothingly.

"No Zack. All I wanted was to tell you that I'm proud of you. You did a very kind thing last night, being there for your brother when he needed you." He said proudly.

Zack grinned awkwardly. Praise from Mr Moseby, at least for him anyway, was very rare indeed.

"Thanks Mr Moseby!" he said cheerily.

"You're welcome Zack." Moseby said and they went out onto the overlook.

"Wait a minute how did you know we were in the planetarium?" Zack asked curiously.

"We found you there after we eventually tracked you down."

"Who else saw?" Zack demanded, worried about his reputation as being a cool, laid back womanizer was in trouble.

"Only me, Kirby and Miss Tutweiller...although..." Moseby said, looking away guiltily.

"Although what?"

"Well I might have sent a picture of it to your mother..." Moseby said, with a wicked grin.

"Wait, what? Aww Mr Moseby! Now mom will know and will show it to everyone at the Tipton, to Arwin, to Esteban...to Maddie..." he said, his voice trailing off and a grin forming on his face.

Moseby rolled his eyes. One had a broken heart and the other was entertaining fantasies of him and Maddie. Mind you, it wasn't that much of a fantasy anymore if Esteban's reports were to be believed about Maddie...not that he would tell Zack that.

The two of them lapsed into silence and Zack looked down at Cody as he headed to the bar to get a smoothie.

"I just wish I could make him totally better you know?" he asked, and Moseby nodded.

"Yes Zack. But all you can do is give him time, and be there for him. He'll get through this eventually." Moseby said sagely.

"I just wish he wasn't so sad and down...I don't like seeing him like this. He's really taking this hard. Hey, you don't think him and Bailey were actually, you know, in love with each other do you?" he asked curiously.

Moseby looked at Cody musingly. It had certainly crossed his mind, and the way the two of them had taken all this indicated it all the more. And they had said it to each other...they probably hadn't realised that they actually did love each other. And now...

Moseby looked down at Cody sadly. Poor lad. Him and Bailey, most likely in love, now split up... A thought occurred to him, and he smiled a little.

"Yes, I think they actually are in love with each other." He concluded.

Zack looked down at Cody sadly. He knew he felt really strongly for Bailey, and knew they were really close. But full out love? That was way above his pay grade. He was much more content to just go out with a girl for a couple of dates, then break up with them. But Cody...he had always known that his brother would fall properly in love first.

But what did this mean? At least it explained why Cody and Bailey were so down. They had completely fallen for each other and it had now been broken off, they were hurting really bad. But the worst part of it was, they clearly did still love each other. So how could Zack go about helping Cody if the cause of his pain was the fact that he was in love with the girl he had broken up with? Zack didn't know if he could help Cody...but he sure as hell would try. His brother was hurting and he wanted to help. He didn't know how, but until Cody either got over Bailey and moved on, or until, if at all possible, they got back together, he would be there for him. But considering what had happened between Cody and Bailey, could they work things out? Even if they could be friends again the two of them would probably be happier than they were at the moment. But what if things went badly again? Zack heaved a sigh.

Love was very complicated, even more so when it ended badly. He didn't know what to do.

"Well that just makes things even worse! I knew he had it bad for her, and that she had it bad for him, but I didn't know they were actually in love! What the hell do I do now? Breakups I can help him deal with...broken hearts caused by lost love, not so much." Zack complained bitterly.

"Just continue to do what you did last night...be there for him if he needs you." Moseby advised, but Zack wasn't listening and was instead looking down at the smoothie bar in alarm.

"Zack?" Moseby asked.

"Oh, not good." he responded, and dashed down the stairs.

Cody handed over his money, then as he picked up the two smoothies, his elbow accidentally hit the girl next to him. As he turned around to apologise, he saw who it was. Bailey.

Her beautiful brown eyes widened, and Cody's heart caught in his throat. He put down the smoothies as he took a step back, shock running through him. She looked as beautiful as ever, her long brown hair framing her face, dressed in a small black top and a black skirt, showing off her legs, and her eyes were still filled with the same spark he loved, despite her eyes being red rimmed from crying. He looked at her uncertainly, not knowing what to say or do. Bailey gaped at him, wondering how she should go about this. He looked as great as ever, slim, his sparkly blue eyes, his adorable face, his tousled blond hair...He dropped his eyes from her, hurt showing on his face.

"Hey Bailey." He said in a small voice, full of hurt.

"Cody..." she whispered sadly, her eyes filling with tears.

There was so much he wanted to say, he wanted to take everything back that he had said, he wanted her to know how much he missed her, how much he wanted to still be her boyfriend, that he didn't want to lose her...

She couldn't believe it. After secretly longing to see him, she now couldn't say anything. She wanted to apologise, take back everything she had said, wanted nothing more than to kiss his lips, tell him that she missed him...

"Hey Bailey!" a bright male voice said, and Bailey winced as Holden, a tall blond haired guy she used to have a crush on, walked up towards them.

Cody looked at her with a betrayed look on his face, and he averted his eyes and picked up the smoothies, his eyes screaming out in pain as he turned to go.

"Holden, not now!" she hissed tearfully, raising her hand to stop Cody leaving. She didn't want him to leave. She wanted to talk to him, wanted to tell him the truth...

"I hear you're a free agent now." He said brightly, strolling towards her.

"Hello, remember me, her ex?" Cody growled angrily, and Holden took a step back, looking sheepish as he noticed him.

"Oh, hey Cody, I didn't see you there. So Bailey...?" Holden asked hopefully.

"Holden..." Bailey moaned.

"Well, bye Bailey." Cody said in a flat, emotionless voice, shrugging her arm off of his and looking at her with hurt eyes, then turned and headed away to a desperate looking Zack who had just bounded down the stairs.

"Cody..." she whispered sadly, watching him go, struggling to keep tears from falling down her cheeks.

She knew what must be going through his head. His self-confidence in anything other than academics had never been particularly much to write home about, and he must now think that not even a whole twenty four hours after their breakup she was already looking for someone else...someone who in his mind would be a lot better for her than he would. He would assume that she was already trying to replace him, that he had never been good enough for her, that she didn't care that much about their relationship...when that couldn't be further from the truth.

"So, are you free this weekend?" Holden asked brightly.

Bailey's brown eyes flashed angrily and she picked up her smoothie, turned on her seat to face him, then threw it in his face. Holden spluttered in surprise, as London came back from the bathroom and tottered over to them on her high heels.

"Whoa farmgirl, that was uncalled for!" she said, putting a hand on Bailey's arm and dragging her away.

"For your information Holden...it is customary to wait at least a little while after a girl has been dumped by someone they like before you try and make a move on them." Bailey growled, as she watched Cody, too far away to hear what she was saying, disappear into the dormitory corridor, his head hung and Zack's arm around his shoulders.

"Cody..." Bailey moaned.

Then, the awkwardness and the horrible coolness of their encounter caught up with her, and she let the tears fall. This should never have happened. They had been happy, in love... before they had broken up over one too many a bad argument. Now he would think she was just going to move on to her next boyfriend, not because he thought she was like that, but because he thought he wasn't good enough for her to linger over. She didn't want another guy...she wanted him. But, when she thought of running after him, she knew she couldn't stand looking at his sad face again, it would break her heart even more than it was already. The two of them had lost each other, when neither of them had wanted to, and now she couldn't bring herself to look at his sad face to try and cheer him up. What sort of girlfriend, ex or not, was she that she couldn't bring herself to go and talk to him, try and at least be friends with him even if they couldn't be boyfriend and girlfriend? Guilt and sadness rippled through her once more and she raised her hands to her face and ran away for her own room, with London looking at her retreating back sadly.

XX

Cody silently handed Zack his smoothie as he walked away, heading into the corridor to take them to their cabins.

"Cody..." Zack whispered, but all he got was a small slurp in reply.

Zack looked at his twin, and saw that tears were welling up in his eyes. He must be feeling terrible, feeling that Bailey was already replacing him. Zack knew she wasn't, she seemed as torn up about this breakup as he was, but that was how it would seem to his brother. And he wouldn't be thinking of Bailey being that sort of girl, because Cody knew she wasn't. Instead, he would be thinking that he didn't deserve her, and that maybe Holden would be a better match for her and that it was him who was at fault.

"Cody, you know Bailey wouldn't replace you that quickly don't you?" he asked softly, wrapping his free arm around his brother.

"Yeah...but let's face it, what chance do I have against him anyway?" Cody asked in a forlorn voice.

"Hey, Bailey and I both know that he's nothing compared to you." Zack said earnestly, trying to boost his self confidence, which wasn't that high at the best of times anyway.

"I know she's not like that...but who can blame Holden? I had her and I lost her again. Good luck to him. She deserves better than me anyway." He said, and handed Zack his smoothie before opening his cabin door and entering, locking the door as he did so.

Zack slumped slightly in defeat as he looked at his brother's door. Poor Cody. The girl he was in love with had been single nearly a day, and already all the other idiots who wanted her were circling, trying to get a piece of the action. What the hell would that do to him, seeing that Bailey would suddenly be beset by suitors? Zack knew Bailey wouldn't want anything to do with them, but it would still hurt his brother. Maybe he should talk to Bailey. And at the moment, he couldn't even be there for his brother.

Sighing, Zack headed back to the sky deck, sipping on alternate smoothies and hoping that Cody would come out soon.

XX

Moseby looked down at the ugly scene with a wince. That certainly wouldn't do much for the situation. Even if they could just be friends again it would probably make things a whole lot better. But the way Cody had looked, and how Bailey had looked made it clear that they still did love each other, it was just their issues and the fact that they had both hurt each other that were getting in the way.

"Mr Moseby!" Tutweiller called as she came out from behind him.

"Hello Emma. You just missed a scene that makes the Arctic look warm." Moseby explained.

"Oh...Cody and Bailey?" she asked with a wince standing next to him as they looked down on the sky deck.

"Yes. Cody and Bailey saw each other, and then Holden came onto Bailey. Needless to say it didn't end well." He said sadly.

She sighed sadly.

"Do you know what this is going to do to me grade curve? It'll look flat, with a dip at the bottom for Zack, Woody and London." She said miserably.

Moseby patted her arm, and she smiled a little.

"But...would it seem to you that the largest problem is that they have hurt each other?" she asked in a strange voice.

Moseby raised an eyebrow curiously, wondering what she was getting at.

"Well yes...but what are you getting at?" he asked in interest, wondering if she was having the same thoughts as he was.

"Well it seems to me that the two of them are in love and haven't realised it. Would that be your assessment?" she asked.

"Yes it would, and it must be obvious because even Zack thinks the two of them are in love. But what are you getting at Emma?" he asked curiously.

"Well it seems to me that as it is obvious to everyone but them that they're in love the two of us could, well, you know, poke them in the right direction. I mean as a normal teacher I wouldn't be obliged to do such a thing, but as I'm a teacher here on the ship, they're my two best students, it could have a knock on effect on Zack and London's work, so purely for professional reasons I think an intervention is in order." She said, winking and smiling at him, and he knew full well there were also compassionate reasons behind it too.

Moseby grinned. Yes, she was thinking the same thing as he was. And she was also perfectly positioned to put their plan into effect during school hours by insisting that they work together.

And the two of them were made for each other. They were clearly in love, and if even Zack had noticed it, it wouldn't be long until London did and by that time it would be totally obvious to everyone. And...he had always been closer to Cody than Zack, though he was secretly very fond of the two of them. And he didn't like seeing Cody miserable any more than Zack did. And besides, if their mother found out...well if she was in a ratty mood he may just be on the receiving end of her not inconsiderable wrath.

"Well Emma...I think we can agree that a little bit of an intervention is in order. Shall we discuss it over lunch?" he asked, offering his arm.

"Certainly. Though not the Bingo Buffet Hall. Woody and Addison are on a date in there." She informed him, and Moseby was quite impressed by this information.

"Very well then. Shall we?" he asked and they headed off for lunch.

XX

Cody woke up a couple of hours later. The sun was still high in the sky, and he figured that he must have cried himself to sleep again. Having your heart broken took a lot out of you it seemed.

"Come on Cody, get a grip." He said irritably and proceeded to give himself a shower to try and clear his head.

Last night...he had really needed his brother with him. He hadn't actually expected Zack to comfort him, but he was eternally thankful that he had. And what was more, Zack hadn't been like that with him in years, and he hadn't felt so close to his twin in years either. He smiled a little.

"Thanks Zack." He said to himself, though he would go and thank him properly later.

After he finished his shower, feeling a little better, he pulled out some clothes, not exactly black but still dark colours to reflect his mood and looked miserably at a picture of him and Bailey. He missed her like crazy. He was wishing that the entire thing had never happened, that the ship had never gone to Paris, that he had never planned their anniversary, that they had never had that stupid fight...and that they hadn't broke up.

But now it was too late. He had lost her, and already other guys were looking to try and replace him. And they were right to. He had been the one who had asked, and they had both agreed to break up. He had lost her, and she deserved someone better than him. Miserably, he headed out to try and find Zack.

He supposed that he had gotten through the worst of it. Yes, it still hurt like hell and he missed her like crazy, but he had cried a lot of his troubles out onto his brother last night, and he had actually seen her for the first time since they had decided to break up, as uncomfortable and hurtful as that had been. Whatever happened, he didn't want her to be miserable, he just wanted her to be happy. The fact that it wasn't with him was just something he would have to get over.

As he neared the sky deck, he saw Marcus and Zack sitting at the smoothie bar, Woody conspicuous by his absence due to his date with Addison. He came to a stop and strained to hear so that he didn't disturb their conversation until he saw an opening.

"You reckon he'll be alright?" Marcus asked, sipping his drink.

Zack shrugged.

"I hope so. But he's taken this so hard...I've never seen him like this before. I mean he's had a couple of bad break ups, who hasn't, but this one's different somehow." He said miserably.

Marcus nodded grimly.

"Yeah, poor dude does seem to have taken this one hard. Mind you, so has Bailey." He added, and Cody felt a little flicker of pain at the fact that she was hurting too.

"Yeah I know...I reckon we need to get her to talk to him somehow." Zack concluded, and Marcus looked uncertain.

"Yeah, maybe...but isn't that just putting salt into an open wound?" he asked worriedly.

"I don't know, but as long as it doesn't make him worse I'm all for it." Zack said grimly, and Marcus rolled his eyes.

"You done your book report yet?" Marcus asked, changing the subject, and Cody prepared to go in.

"No, not yet. I've been a bit busy trying to help Cody." Zack responded, and Cody hung back a little bit.

Marcus waggled a finger at him.

"Don't you dare try to get your brother to write your report when he's feeling so lousy." He growled.

Zack scuffed his foot off the edge of his chair and looked down guiltily.

"That was a little bit of the thinking yesterday..." he admitted ashamedly.

Cody looked out of the door at his brother, hurt and disbelief filling him. His brother _had_ wanted his help with the report. Had that been the sole reason he had come to find him last night? Not wanting to be there for his brother but because he wanted him to do his book report for him?

"But then when I saw how upset he really was I totally forgot about it and just wanted to help him." Zack continued.

Cody felt a little better, but the twinge of hurt was threatening to start his waterworks again. He was just an emotional wreck at the moment because of everything with Bailey.

"How bad was he last night?" Marcus asked sympathetically, and Zack looked down.

"Really bad. He was a state. Poor guy. I've never seen him like that, even when I told everyone in school that he cuddled his blanket every time he watched a scary movie."

Cody felt a dart of anger at his brother. Hadn't he caused enough damage the last time he had trudged that up? And now he had told Marcus...

"All for Bailey. I suppose..." Marcus said, apparently not caring about the fact that his friend had used to use his blankey.

"Yeah...all for one girl. I mean, yeah, Bailey's a hell of a catch, especially for him, but I didn't expect him to get thrown so badly out of shape by all this. I mean...I sort of liked being there for him last night, but I mean it's so hard trying to get him to cheer up, I don't know what to do. He's my twin brother yeah, but that doesn't mean I have all the answers. I don't know what to do with him." Zack said grimly.

Cody felt tears welling in his eyes. That was the length of his brother's love for him. He was quite willing to be there for him...but only for one night. Now, he didn't know what to do because Cody didn't magically get better over night. He wanted his brother back, but because he didn't get better over night, he was chickening out. And what was more, he thought he was a sucker for getting so wound up over one single girl. Just because he went through girls like Woody went through pies didn't mean that Cody did. His own brother thought he was a wimp for getting so whacked out of shape, a fool for falling so hard for just one girl, and it hadn't even been brotherly love that had originally made him want to find Cody, it had been the fact that he was too lazy to try and do it for himself. Tears fell down his face again. That was how much his brother felt for him. Stifling a sob, he ran back to his room, nearly knocking London down on the way.

"Cody?" she called in concern, but he was gone.

XX

Zack was still brooding. He wanted to make Cody better, but the main problem was that he didn't know how he could go about it. Marcus had just promised to help him try and cheer Cody up, but neither of them knew where to start. Zack also hadn't told Marcus that he reckoned that Cody had fallen in love with Bailey, which was making matters even worse. He just didn't know how to get his twin back to being his usual perky self.

"Zack?" London asked as she arrived, looking worried.

"Hey London, how's Bailey?" Marcus asked.

London looked sad.

"Still crying. I mean, I've never seen someone get so upset by a boy before! And because Holden appeared, she's taking it even worse and crying that Cody hates her now too, and that's just making her cry all the more! I gave her five hundred bucks and offered her two diamond necklaces and she still didn't cheer up." She lamented, looking put out that her friend was still upset despite her best efforts.

"Yeah, I heard what happened. Just give her time London." Marcus advised.

"Oh, and speaking of upset persons," she said, and Zack shook his head at the wrong grammar, "were you saying anything about Cody just now?" she asked curiously.

Zack looked at her oddly.

"Yeah, why?" he asked, and then the worried look on her face opened up a massive pit in his gut that his heart dropped into.

"I think he might have heard you." She mumbled, and Zack groaned, and dashed off to find his brother.

"Well...want to cheer yourself up with some shopping?" Marcus offered.

"Do I? I've been dealing with a weepy Bailey all day and she wouldn't go shopping! Of course I need some! You can tell me who gorgeous I look!" she said happily, and they headed off to the boutique, Marcus smiling as they did so.

XX

As Zack had feared, Cody had locked his door. Grunting and moaning at the fact that his brother was upset again, but this time because he had misinterpreted what he had been saying, he knelt down and took a paper clip from his pocket, and bent it out. It was time to use a skill that he had picked up from Arwin when he had accidentally locked himself out of his own office.

"Oh Cody..." he moaned sadly, hoping that his brother hadn't taken what he had been saying the wrong way.

After a few minutes work, in which he was mercifully undisturbed by anyone, the door finally clicked and he went in to see Cody balled up and crying softly. Guilt and horror spread through Zack and he walked to the bed, and with a confidence he hadn't had the night before he lay down beside his brother and wrapped one arm around his brother's thin form, and started gently stroking his hair with the other.

"Go away Zack." Cody moaned angrily, with a strong but upset voice.

"No way." Zack said firmly.

"Why? I heard you. Want me to do a book report for you? Get stuffed." Cody said bitterly, and Zack felt horrible.

"Cody..."

"I get it alright? You originally wanted me to do your book report. That's why you went looking for me last night! Not because you cared about me, but because you wanted me to do your damn work for you as usual!" Cody cried, and Zack felt so horrible that he wanted to be sick.

"Yeah...at first I did. But then I saw how upset you really were, and I totally forgot about it. Please believe me!" Zack moaned.

Cody sniffed then shrugged off Zack's arm.

"Why are you even here Zack? I heard you. You reckon I'm a wimp because I'm still upset about breaking up with Bailey, think I'm dumb for falling for her in the first place, and you didn't care about me last night, all you wanted was help with your book report! So why not go and enjoy yourself? Why pretend you care about me because you don't." Cody sobbed.

Zack sat up, and surprisingly he didn't feel any anger. All he felt was guilt, and he felt sick with himself. And he felt horrible because he had promised that he wouldn't hurt his little brother, and now he had, unintentionally or not.

"Cody...I _do_ care!" he protested.

All he got in response was another sniff, and Zack pulled Cody up, forcing his red eyed brother to look at him.

"Yeah I admit...I did want you to do the book report yesterday when I first started getting worried about you. But then, when I saw how badly you were taking it, I didn't want to do anything else except help you buddy! I don't like seeing you like this, I just want you to be happy again!" he protested, and Cody's face softened a little.

"And I definitely care about you. I love you Cody. You're my brother. Do you have any idea how sad I would be if I didn't have you around, not to mention how incredibly clueless about everything I would be? I love you. What I was saying earlier...it's not that I don't want to help you. Of course I want to help you. I want you back to normal, the guy you normally are, with Bailey or without. My main problem is...you're so miserable, and I can't make you feel any better. I just want to take your pain way, and I can't. That's what I was saying to Marcus. I just want to make you better buddy, and I hate that I can't." Zack admitted, telling the truth and willing Cody to believe it. Cody showed no signs of believing him, but he looked down at the bed instead.

"And I don't think you're stupid, or a wimp for what happened with Bailey. I know how much you liked her. Trust me, if I broke up with a girl like that, even I would be upset. Especially because you two were so good for each other, and that's what's making this even worse. After that, you're perfectly entitled to be an emotional wreck." He said.

"And what's more...I don't think you're stupid for getting so whacked out of shape by this. Actually...I know it sounds weird, but I'm a little jealous. I saw how much brighter her smile got when she saw you every day, how much happier you looked when she was around. You two adored each other! And to tell you the truth, I want something like what you and Bailey had. Something when the girl looks forward to seeing me every day, even though I was the last person she saw at night. Going through all the girls I do...it actually makes me really jealous that I can't connect with a girl the way you did with Bailey, make them happy just by being there. And I suppose a little bit of me is a little bit jealous that she spent more time with you than I did. I do sort of miss you when you're not around all the time." He admitted.

Cody looked at him, and a small blush and a little smile appeared on his face.

"You really think all that?" he asked quietly, and happiness spread through Zack, knowing that his brother finally believed him.

"I know, surprising huh?" Zack asked with a grin.

"No. You're a lot nicer a person than you give yourself credit for Zack. And a lot more intelligent than you pretend to be." Cody said, and now it was Zack's time to blush.

Cody had never said anything quite that heartfelt and sincere to him before. He knew that his brother was all those things, but he had never truly voiced it until now.

"Thanks Cody." He said with a smile, then moved to sit beside his brother.

"Are we friends again?" Zack asked his brother cautiously, and Cody smiled a bit more.

"Yeah. I'm sorry I snapped, and accused you of not caring about me. It's just..."

Zack cut him off and pulled his brother into a hug, and Cody hugged back, making Zack smile happily. He had his brother back, and now, he could tell that he was sort of on the mend.

"I do more than care about you squirt, I love you." Zack said softly.

"I love you too." Cody said and they broke off, and Cody then smiled a bit more.

"You're actually jealous of me? That's a first." He said, and Zack looked down ruefully, not meeting Cody's eyes.

"Yeah, I sort of am. I want that sort of thing with a girl, but..."

"You'll get someone bro. I know you will." Cody said with a smile, and Zack grinned as Cody laid back down.

"Thanks Cody." Zack said, grinning down at his brother then lying down beside him and Cody turned over, so Zack wrapped his arm around his brother again.

"And you can be emotional for as long as you want...as long as you don't do it when I'm hitting on a girl." Zack said, and his heart swelled when Cody let out a little giggle. He had missed his brother laughing over the last couple of days.

"Ok, deal." Cody said, and Zack absently started stroking his brother's hair again.

"I'll be alright you know." Cody said softly, and Zack smiled.

"You better be, or mom will kill me when we go home next. I'll be blamed for this you know."

Cody grinned.

"Alright. Zack..."

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for everything last night. And just now...and sorry I accused you of not caring about me." He said, and Zack smiled a little and wriggled up to his little brother.

"It's ok. You've had a rough couple of days. And I'll do it anytime you need it Cody." He promised.

"Thanks...I'll do it for you too." Cody promised, and Zack smiled. He was getting his brother back. And if he ever did need help...he knew his brother had his back.

Smiling, they said nothing for ages. Zack absently stroked Cody's hair, while Cody held his hand and stroked it with his thumb.

"I love you." Zack muttered drowsily as he started falling asleep.

"I love you too." Cody said, and dozed off too.

A while later, the room was filled with the sound of the sleeping twins.

XX

Zack awoke the next morning and sat up, looking down at his brother. Woody must have stayed in his room last night, as his bed hadn't been slept in. Zack smiled as he looked down at Cody, then kissed his forehead, before gently prising his brother's hand from his own and leaving the room.

Last night...he had realised that Cody really was in love with Bailey. And she was clearly in love with him. Both of them, while they were getting better, missed each other like crazy. They wanted each other back, but both of them were too hurt to make the first move. But Zack wanted to see them both happy again, and he had a feeling they wouldn't be until they were together again. Dashing to the reception, he saw Moseby at the desk, in a green jacket today.

"Zack...is Cody alright? London told me he got a bit upset yesterday." He said in concern.

"He's fine. We had a long talk and he's getting better. But...he misses Bailey like hell. He is in love with her." He said, and Moseby nodded.

"I know."

"So..." Zack began leadingly.

"So...what?" Moseby asked in confusion.

"I want to get Bailey and Cody back together. They're made for each other, even I can see that. They belong with each other, and they're both miserable. So will you help me get them back together?"

Moseby smiled just as Miss Tutweiller entered the reception from the lift. Moseby winked at her, and his gaze lingered a little too long before turning back to Zack.

"Funny you should say that..." he said conspirationally.

**Hello again!**

**Thank you for all the lovely reviews I got for the first chapter, and in case you missed it, I decided to expand the story, and we now have five chapters! Three left after this one!**

**A little bit more of brotherly love between Zack and Cody, a bit of romance blossoming between Mr Moseby and Miss Tutweiller, with a dash of Woody and Addison and London and Marcus as well!**

**Cody and Bailey are clearly in love with each other, and now people are trying to get them back together. Will they succeed?**

**And Maddie is coming? Why is she so excited to see Zack? How will he react when he sees her? **

**Will Cody and Bailey reunite? Will Zack find true love? Will Woody and Addison officially hook up? Will Marcus and London become a couple? Will sparks fly between Moseby and Tutweiller? Time will tell the answer to all these questions!**

**I hope you're enjoying this story, and I am triyng to keep them in character, so please keep reading!**

**Until next time (after my Charmed one shot probably, and maybe Fate of the Force's next chapter) please read and review!**

**Enjoy!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own Suite Life**

Recovery

Cody felt better when he left his cabin. Having Zack come and cheer him up and be there for him again last night, despite their argument, had felt really good. Cody felt like he owed his brother a lot, and he also felt a lot closer to him, a lot closer than he had felt recently. He wanted to do something nice for him, but quite what he could do was a little beyond him.

Arriving on the sky deck, he headed for the smoothie bar, looking at it slightly resentfully. It had been only yesterday that Holden had tried to make a move on Bailey, not even having the decency to wait for a while before making a move on her, and even worse with him present. He knew she wasn't the sort of person to move on so soon after a bad breakup...but the fact that people were already trying to take the girl that he...that he...oh for god sake.

It was time to face up to facts. It all hurt so much because he was in love with Bailey. He had told her that, but he hadn't impressed on it, hadn't let her know he actually was in love with her. And now, it was too late and they had split up. Cody irritably asked for a smoothie, then a stray thought struck him. The gang spent an awful amount of time drinking smoothies. Curious where your mind went when you were missing someone you loved.

Cody sipped it, pondering. He missed Bailey, and he was wondering whether he should go and talk to her. The thought of talking to her was both wonderful and terrifying at the same time. He wondered sadly if they could still be friends like they had been before they had started dating. If he couldn't have her as a girlfriend, he still didn't want to lose her as a friend. The thought of not talking to her every day, of having more cold conversations like their encounter yesterday...it broke his heart even more. He just wanted everything to go back to normal, either make them friends again or...

Did he dare talk to her, tell her the truth, that he was in love with her? Or did he let her get away and move on like she deserved to? Looking down miserably, he didn't even notice as the girl he couldn't stop thinking about entered the sky deck and nearly bumped into him as he sipped his smoothie.

"Oh...Cody...hi." she said cautiously, not knowing how best to go about this, and praying that she would get through this without bursting into tears.

"Oh, um, hi Bailey. How...how are you...doing?" he asked casually, hoping that he wouldn't let all his uncertainty be shown and that he wouldn't start crying again.

"I'm ok...Cody I..." she said uncertainly, and Cody felt a thrill of excitement. Was she thinking the same thing he was? Did she miss him as much as he missed her? Should he tell her that he loved her?

Bailey looked at him, wondering if she should say what she really wanted to say. Should she tell him that she loved him and that she wanted to give them another chance? She missed him so much...

There was a moment of silence between them as both of them screwed up the courage to tell each other what they really felt. However as they both began to open their mouths they looked in each other's eyes, and both silently decided that they didn't want to hurt the other anymore.

Bailey saw all the pain that was still in Cody's eyes and knew she couldn't bring herself to torture him with the possibility of getting back together and hurt him anymore, especially if he didn't want to, because that would just hurt her more as well.

Cody looked at Bailey, and saw how much she was hurting and didn't want to inflict more pain on her by dangling a possible fantasy in front of her, and even if they did, they would probably just be going on borrowed time. And neither of them could deal with that anymore.

"Cody, I'll leave your stuff at your room." She said, then turned away her eyes sad.

"I'll...do that for you too." Cody said miserably watching her walk away,

His heart was screaming out for him to go after her, but he didn't want to hurt her anymore than he already had. And besides...she probably would be better off with someone else who wouldn't hurt her like he had.

Cody looked out over the bright blue sky miserably, and when he felt a hand on his shoulder he started, and dropped the smoothie cup over the side, wincing as it was splintered into tiny bits on the ship's propeller.

"Thanks dude." Zack said with a sarcastic grin, and Cody flushed with embarrassment.

"You gave me a fright." Cody said ruefully, wincing as the little shards of plastic went into the sea.

"You ok? I just saw Bailey, and she looked really down." He said hesitantly, and Cody sighed.

"We just talked. It was...horrible to tell you the truth. I mean, we're not dating anymore yeah, but is it too much to hope for that we can still be friends?" Cody asked in a downhearted voice.

Zack looked down at the ocean, wondering what to say. Considering how hurt they both were, their chances of remaining friends did seem relatively slim. But...maybe they were both so hurt because they secretly wanted to get back together and weren't admitting it? Zack hoped so. One, both Cody and Bailey would be happy again, and secondly it would mean that they weren't doing all this for nothing.

"I don't know buddy. But if anyone can, you two can." Zack said, and squeezed Cody's hand, and Cody smiled a bit.

"That's not like you, showing affection to me in public." He said with a small smile.

"Yeah well...I wouldn't be much of a brother if I wasn't here for you when you needed me." Zack said, and Cody turned to face him.

"But you are a good brother. Trust me." Cody said with a grin, and Zack smiled.

"Come on Romeo, let's go and remind you what it's like to be single." He said, and Cody looked at him ponderingly.

"Unless you don't think you're ready to go and play air hockey?" he asked, and Cody smiled.

"Course I am. I was just afraid you wanted me to go girl hunting with you." He didn't want to move on from Bailey, not when he was still in love with her, and especially not so soon.

Zack snorted, and Cody shot him a mock dirty look.

"You think I would cramp your style I take it?" he asked, and Zack winked.

"Nah, but you would attract the wrong sort for me...if I want what you had." He said softly, and Cody smiled.

"Alright then. Come on." Cody said, and followed his brother up the stair. But as he did so, he saw Bailey head up the stair to the higher decks, and as he saw her, her face lifted in a little smile and she hesitantly raised her hand and gave him a small wave.

Feeling immensely happier, Cody gave her a small wave back and followed Zack.

XX

Bailey came up the stairs. The conversation with Cody had been horrible, them being so cold and awkward with each other. Sure, she'd prefer to still be dating him, but if not, she would still want to be his friend. Maybe it would just take time.

As she reached the top of the ship, she was surprised to see London's pink helicopter coming in for a landing. Panic filled her. Yes, London had been relatively good on the escaping front recently but if she left...Bailey would have no one. Spotting her friend, she hurried over, worry that London was escaping, and that she was being left alone filling her.

"London, please tell me you aren't trying to escape again?" Bailey begged as she reached her friend.

"No silly, I simply called in some reinforcements to help me cheer you up!" London said brightly.

"Aww London, that's so nice..." Bailey said, then a thought struck her.

What if she had brought Moose back out again? Then she would have two exes on the same boat...which would mean that Moose would try and get her back, while she was still vulnerable after the end of her relationship with Cody. And Moose would probably try and attack Cody for hurting her...and she didn't want him hurt. This was as much her fault as his. And...she still loved him.

"So, who did you summon?" Bailey asked nervously, just as the door opened.

Maddie stepped out, her blonde hair longer than the last time they had seen her, but she still looked as great as ever.

"Maddie! Thanks goodness!" London said, hugging her friend.

"Hey London, how are you?" she asked excitedly, smiling at her friend.

"Oh, it's been awful. I'm glad you're here." She whispered, and Maddie looked uncertain, before smiling at Bailey and hugging her too.

"Hey Bailey, how are you doing?" she asked sympathetically.

"I'm alright Maddie, how are you? It's been ages!" Bailey said happily.

Maddie stood back and looked at them both.

"Oh it is good to see you both." She said happily, looking around the ship.

"So London brought you all the way out here to cheer me up? Thanks London." Bailey said hugging her friend.

"You're welcome. Now come on, let's go and cheer you up and get your mind off of You-Know-Who! And I don't mean Voldemort. Gasp I said it!" London said looking around anxiously, as though he would jump out at her.

"It's going to be a long trip." Maddie said, winking at Bailey.

XX

"Zack, know when we were on that island?" Cody asked hesitantly, blocking the puck as it went for his goal.

"Yeah?" Zack asked, knocking it back towards his brother.

"Well you said you would wait three months before you made any move for Bailey..." he said, knowing that his twin had been attracted to her at first, but he had stepped back because she had too much 'baggage', however Cody knew that Zack had seen how much Cody liked her and had just stepped back to give him a chance.

Zack looked at him pityingly.

"Nah, I'm not going to go after Bailey, I know how much you feel for her. Besides, if she's distraught over breaking up with you, it'll increase her baggage and it'll be a little weird for her." He said.

Cody smiled, then knocked the puck into Zack's goal, making his brother curse.

"Thanks." He said with an awkward grin.

"You're welcome, and now, I'm going to whop your ass." He promised and smacked the puck back down the table, trying to score a point to even out the game.

"Hey guys." Marcus said, watching as the twins tried to best each other at air hockey.

"Hey Marcus." Cody said, grinning as he smacked the puck into Zack's goal again.

"Ok, how are you doing that?" Zack demanded incredulously, making Marcus and Cody grin.

"It's good to see you smile again buddy. But you're still missing Bailey ain't you?" Marcus asked sympathetically.

"Yeah, course I am. But we did manage to talk to her without crying so that's progress. It's just...I want to still be able to talk to her, you know, still be friends...but earlier it was warmer in the freezer than it was with that conversation." Cody lamented, blocking Zack's shot and making his brother scowl.

"Well you just need to give it time. You only broke up a couple of days ago." Marcus soothed.

"I know it's just...I really miss her. Earlier was like pulling teeth and I don't want that with her. I wish none of this had happened." He lamented, and Zack finally scored a point.

"It'll get better Cody." Marcus assured him, as Cody got revenge and put himself another point ahead.

Zack looked up at his brother. Despite the fact that he was missing Bailey and wanted to fix things with her, he was still getting beaten. Cody's eyes still contained hurt, and even though he had looked happier when Bailey had waved at him earlier, he knew that his brother still loved her and wanted to get back with her. Cody's eyes had misted over slightly when Marcus had mentioned her as well. Yep, he was definitely head over heels for her.

"Hey, there's a thing, some blonde babe has just arrived on London's helicopter." Marcus stated.

"A blonde babe?" Cody asked curiously, and smiled a little as hope started dancing in Zack's eyes.

"Yeah, pretty too. Nothing on London of course..." Marcus said wistfully, and Cody snorted.

Typical. The relationship he had with the girl he loved was over, and now Marcus and Zack were both trying to start one. And if the blonde girl was who he thought it was...

Then, an idea came to him. If it was who he thought it was, and knowing how Zack felt about them...perhaps he could thank his brother that way. Smiling, he knocked the puck into Zack's goal, ending the game, while both he and Marcus stared wistfully off into space.

XX

Zack was slightly excited. If the blonde babe Marcus had seen was Maddie...he had missed her, he was quite willing to admit that. For years in the Tipton, he had had a serious crush on her, but he had known that he would never be able to get her. But when she had kissed him the last time she had been aboard...it had been brilliant. He had never felt anything like that from kissing a girl before. He had felt thrilled, excited, as if a bolt of electricity was travelling through him, and the way her lips had tasted...

"Yoohoo, lover boy!" Cody called, waving his hand in front of his face.

"What? Who? Where? Why?" Zack asked in extreme confusion as his brother brought him back down to earth with a bump.

"We don't even know if it's Maddie. It might not be." Cody said delicately, and Zack glowered.

"Hey, just because you're not with your girl don't try and deny me mine." He said.

Cody looked away and Zack felt guilty. That had been a pretty low blow, even for him.

"Sorry Cody." He said sheepishly, and Cody turned back to him, his eyes covering up the little bit of hurt.

"It's ok. And for the record, Maddie was never your girl. She was your fantasy girl." He said.

Zack shrugged as they exited onto the sky deck. He could dream couldn't he?

"Zack, Cody!" a voice called and the twins turned in delight to see Maddie coming towards them, smiling widely. She embraced Cody fondly, then turned to Zack and gave him a smile that made him grin goofily.

"Hey Zack." She said excitedly.

"Hi Maddie...you look...wow." Zack said, distracted by the fact that she was dressed only in a bikini.

"Thank you, you don't look so bad yourself. It's great to see you." She said happily, and she stepped forward to hug him and they embraced tightly, both smiling as they did so, and she gave him a kiss on the cheek as they stood back, making Zack go red and grin at her.

Cody looked on at this with a slight grin. Maddie made Zack so happy, just like Bailey did with him. Looked like he could try to carry out his plan after all. And it was clear that Maddie had missed Zack. And he clearly missed her, the way his eyes misted over when she was mentioned.

"You too." Zack said happily, just as Marcus and Woody arrived.

"Hi you're the blonde ba...blondie who knows London right?" Marcus asked, holding out his hand to shake hers, earning his hand a reproving glare from Zack as he did so, making Cody grin.

"Marcus, Woody this is Maddie, she's from the Tipton. She's here...why are you here come to think of it? Not that I'm not thrilled to see you!" Zack amended quickly, after a questioning look from Maddie.

"Well London brought me out here to help her cheer Bailey up. I'm sorry Cody." She said sympathetically.

"Thanks Maddie. I'll be alright." He assured her, and she still looked slightly worried.

"How is Bailey anyway?" Cody asked innocently, and Zack grinned a little.

"Getting there." Maddie answered, knowing full well the two of them still had it bad for each other, and wishing her friends would be able to deal with it soon.

"Zack talks about you a lot." Woody said, nodding conspirationally, and Zack glared at his friend, but Woody didn't seem to notice, so instead Zack kicked him in the back of the leg as he moved around to stand beside Cody.

"Are you ok?" Maddie asked as Woody stumbled, clearly not noticing Zack's attack.

"Owm alright." Woody recovered, quailing at Zack's glare, and Cody grinned.

"Madeline?" Moseby asked in surprise as he arrived and joyously hugged her.

"Hey Mr Moseby, how are you?" she asked cheerfully, and Cody noticed his brother checking out her legs as she hugged Moseby, and rolled his eyes.

"Oh I'm marvellous, but what are you doing here?" he asked curiously.

"London asked me to come out and help cheer Bailey up, so here I am. And I'm on holiday from college at the moment and I had time off to take from the hotel so I reckoned why not?" she said brightly, and Moseby smiled.

"Well I am glad to see you, and that was rather nice of London, I just wish she had told me. Come along, I'll show you the new buffet hall plans." Moseby said and Maddie grinned.

"A new buffet hall?" Woody asked in delight.

"Ok. Um, bye Zack." She said, waving at him and following Moseby.

"Yeah...bye." Zack said absently, still looking at her disappearing figure.

"Pick your jaw off the floor Zack." Marcus advised, clapping his shoulder.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Zack demanded irritably.

"I can't blame you, she's a gorgeous girl." Marcus said with a grin, and Cody smiled. He didn't know the half of it.

"Oh I've been meaning to ask, how was your date with Addison Woody?" Cody asked curiously, and Woody grinned.

"It was great, we're going out again tonight. Hey, do you reckon Mr Moseby will let me see the plans for the new buffet hall?" he asked, and headed after the disappearing figures of Moseby and Madeline.

Zack looked at Maddie's disappearing body ponderingly.

"And how did you get on with your shopping trip with London?" Cody asked, poking Zack in the back to bring him out of his reverie.

"Oh it was quite fun actually. I mean, I like London but I don't know if I can ask her out...what if she turns me down?" Marcus asked uncertainly.

Yes, he really liked London, but he knew she could be a bit ditzy and might be a bit shocked that he was actually attracted to her. But...well if he didn't try he wouldn't know, and she did seem to like him...It was the same problem he had faced as a rapper, not being sure people would like him for who really was, and he was also afraid London would be put off by the fact that he wasn't famous anymore.

"I don't reckon she will buddy. She actually does seem to like you, so just lay on the romance." Zack advised, knowing that London appreciated people being romantic with her.

"And don't forget your wallet, she doesn't like when guys take advantage of the fact that she's rich." Cody advised, and Marcus grinned.

"Ok, thanks dudes." He said and wandered off, to try and find a bunch of flowers he could buy for London.

Cody stood beside his brother, who was looking wistfully out at sea.

"You've missed her haven't you?" Cody asked shrewdly, not having seen his brother like this over a girl in a long time.

Zack sighed.

"Well I didn't realise that I had though. But now she's back, I realise that I have really missed Maddie. And worse, she's gotten even more gorgeous since the last time we saw her! I always fancied Maddie...and now she's here again and I don't know what to do." Zack said, pouting as he did so.

Cody looked at him curiously. It wasn't like Zack to be unsure of himself or of what he wanted. Maybe Maddie just did that to him. But it had been clear that the two of them were definitely attracted to each other, that much was apparent with the way they had been looking at each other. So...where did they go from here?

"That's not like you." Cody commented.

Zack smiled.

"I know. Come on bro, let's try and find something to do to get our mind off of girls." He said.

XX

Later on, they were all on their way to the classroom for a history lesson with Miss Tutweiller. Cody had gone ahead of Zack so he could have a word with Marcus and London before they went into the room, and Zack was busy talking to Woody so didn't notice.

"Hey guys." He said, and frowned slightly when he saw that Marcus looked slightly unwell.

"You ok pal?" Cody asked in concern, and Marcus hung back a little from London who went on ahead.

"I'm trying to work up my courage! Don't interfere!" he scolded, and Cody rolled his eyes.

"Marcus, you've performed in front of thousands of people." He said frankly, not quite getting it.

"It's not the same thing. Anyway, what is it?"

"Well...I sort of want to do something nice for Zack for...you know...everything with Bailey...and I was wondering if you'd help." He said quietly so his twin wouldn't overhear.

"Aww, that's cool. Yeah, I'll help. You reckon London will join in too?" he asked hopefully, and Cody grinned.

"Sure, if you want." Cody said, and then he saw Bailey standing outside the door to the classroom and stopped short.

"Oh...hi Bailey." He said quietly, and she looked down.

"Hi Cody." She said, refusing to meet his eyes, and Marcus, Woody and Zack both looked at him sympathetically.

Feeling a bit down, the two of them looked determinedly away from each other. While they did so Zack's mind wandered to what Maddie was doing while her friends were in class...possibly sunning herself...or getting hit on by slimy guys like Holden...the thought of someone hitting on Maddie made his blood boil. Mind you the thought of someone like Holden making a pass on his brother's ex the day after she had broken up with Cody also made his blood boil. Maybe it was just people like Holden in general.

He looked sadly at Cody, who was looking a bit upset at the continuing coldness between him and Bailey. Mind you, she also looked down, and Zack had to fight an urge to yell at them to just make up. This would take time and delicacy according to Moseby.

Miss Tutweiller opened the door at that moment, which was good because both Bailey and Cody looked very awkward and it allowed them to get away from each other, with Cody sitting grumpily beside Zack while Bailey said irritably beside London.

"Well I'm glad that wasn't awkward." Zack commented, then had to suppress a gasp of pain as Cody kicked him in the shin.

"Good morning class. Today I'm going to place you with the partner I reported to the School Authority so you can do your joint project on the reasons for Hitler's rise to power." She said and started pairing them off, matching them with a list in her hand.

"Oh no...the last time we did a joint project I was with Bailey." Cody moaned, not particularly wanting to make things worse between them by having to work on a school project on which they would disagree on even at the best times.

"Ask her to reassign you...I'm sure I can think of someone who could use your help." Zack said with a grin, and Cody smiled and rolled his eyes.

"Zack, you go with Marcus, Cody, you with Bailey." Tutweiller said as she came to their desk.

"Miss Tutweiller..." Cody said, and she looked at him sympathetically.

"I know Cody, but the Authority has the information now, and I can't change it." She said.

Cody looked sad, then picked up his stuff and headed over to sit with his ex. Tutweiller winked at Zack as he grinned at her, before moving on to stick London with Addison.

Provided they could work together and get talking again...they might just stand a chance.

"Hi Bailey...are you ok about this?" Cody asked hesitantly as he sat beside her.

"Yeah...I think. How...how are you?" she asked awkwardly.

"I'm...fine, you?" he asked politely.

"I'm ok." She said, but like his answer of 'fine' hers had no real conviction in it, so the two of them got to work.

Tutweiller watched them all beadily from her desk, although most of her attention was focused on Cody and Bailey. Despite their break up, they still worked very well together.

"That goes there!" Cody said, putting the army swearing loyalty to Hitler before the death of President Hindenburg.

"No it doesn't, it goes the other way around." Bailey argued, a smile on her face.

"Look farm girl, it clearly goes there!" Cody said, also smiling as they had one of the academic arguments they always had as if nothing had happened.

"It clearly doesn't go there city boy!" she retaliated, switching them back around.

"Does!"

"Doesn't!"

"Bailey is right!" Tutweiller called, if only to stop their arguing, because while sweet, it was driving her insane.

"Oh all right then." Cody said grumpily, and switched them round, just as Bailey went and did the same and their hands met and lingered a little, while they looked uncertainly into each other's eyes before pulling apart.

Zack stabbed his pen down in frustration, making Marcus yelp.

"Oh, sorry dude..." Zack said bashfully, removing his pen from Marcus' hand as Marcus scowled at him.

"What was that for?"

"Well look at them! They were basically holding hands, they were having one of their boring arguments that no one but them cares about, and they still won't admit they love each other!" he said grumpily.

"Am I missing something?" Marcus asked in confusion, feeling very wrong footed.

"We're trying to get them back together. Look at them, they're in love and they miss each other like crazy, they just won't admit it." Zack said sadly, wishing they would fix it, because he knew that the memory of this lesson would just torture Cody later on.

"We just need to give them a bit of time, and they need to give each other a bit of space until they can figure out that they miss each other." Marcus said sagely, though he was still rubbing his wounded hand and shooting dirty looks at Zack.

Cody and Bailey continued working together, however it soon became clear that their interaction was becoming very strained. The combined fact that the two of them were not dating but still loved each other, and that they were clearly still carrying on as usual even though they weren't meant to be was hurting the two of them, and making them snappy with each other.

"I told you that was right!" Bailey grumbled as Cody had to tippex something out.

"It isn't right, as you would see if you looked in your textbook." Cody growled irritably.

Bailey didn't want to admit that he was right, and it was a relief to Tutweiller when the bell sounded a few minutes later, but Cody and Bailey were still arguing.

"Well you're an unappeasable nag!" Cody shouted.

"Well you're a picky control freak!" Bailey yelled and the two of them stormed from the room, going different ways.

Zack and London rolled their eyes at each other and followed the two of them, and Zack found Cody against the wall.

"Whoa." Cody said, a slight grin on his face, a large part of him having enjoyed their squabble.

"You are so not over her." Zack commented, and Cody looked away with a slightly guilty expression, smiling as he did so.

Bailey had to pretend to cough so that London would not see the large grin that had formed as a result of their argument. It was just one of their silly little fights, and it had felt good. There hadn't been much force behind their parting shots...yeah she had been nagging him, and he was also picky. She hated to admit it to herself but it had felt normal, had felt good, and it only made her realise how much she really missed Cody.

"You are so not over him." London said plainly as they headed off to find Maddie.

XX

"How did it go?" Moseby asked curiously as he entered the classroom.

Tutweiller looked uncertain.

"I don't really know to be honest. I put them together and they had one of their weird little arguments that they enjoyed, then they held hands, then they kept arguing and were rude to each other, it's very odd." She said in confusion.

Moseby frowned.

"Well if that didn't work, we need to go onto the next phase." Moseby said thoughtfully.

Tutweiller nodded.

"I agree. Oh, and Zack was even more far away than usual. You know any reason why?" she asked curiously as she gathered her things.

Moseby grinned.

"Yes, Madeline from the hotel has arrived on board and Zack always had a thing for her. And if my spies at the Tipton's reports are to be believed she is beginning to reciprocate."

Tutweiller grinned excitedly.

"Ooh, imagine if he started to improve in school! The bottom of my grade curve would get shorter and the flat line would be longer, and then the nice big high bit, that'll hopefully get bigger if Cody and Bailey get back together! I'll finally get that pay rise and become a senior teacher!" she said in delight.

"So, should we perhaps talk about how we can interfere with Zack and Maddie over lunch as well?" he asked, amused by how excited she was, and she smiled.

"Sounds good to me."

XX

Marcus took a deep breath. London was sitting sunbathing on the sky deck, and was waiting for Maddie and Bailey to come back from shopping. She was alone, and this was his chance to ask her out. Yeah, like Cody had said he had performed in front of thousands of people, but this was different. This was asking out one of the richest and prettiest girls in the world...and he didn't have a clue how she felt about him.

Taking a deep breath and hoping he wasn't making a mistake, he headed over to her and sat beside her.

"Hi Marcus!" she said brightly.

"Hey London...can I ask you something?" he asked nervously, worried she would say no to his offer.

"Sure." She said, looking at him curiously.

"Would...would you like to...go on a date?"

London sighed in exasperation.

"Yes I'd like to go on one but no one has asked me in ages." She pouted.

Marcus looked at her curiously. Hadn't he just asked her out? But then again, the ditzy heiress sometimes wasn't that quick on the uptake. It was one of the things he found endearing about her.

"Um, I meant a date with me." He said quietly.

London then turned and looked at him, her eyes widening in shock. Then she gave him a beautiful smile.

"Sure, I'd love to!" she said happily.

"Really?" Marcus asked happily, smiling at her.

"Sure!" she said cheerily.

"Alright then, cool." Marcus said gladly.

"So, what shall I wear? Formal, bright, casual, what?" she asked, looking worried.

Marcus grinned at her.

"It doesn't matter, you'll look beautiful no matter what." He said, hoping it didn't sound too cheesy.

London made the same laughing noise that Bailey did when guys flattered her, that she made when Cody had pleased her or had made her happy, and Marcus grinned.

"Anyway...so tonight at seven?" he asked, and she nodded, smiling at him.

XX

While Bailey headed to her room to get changed to play on the water slides, Maddie entered the games arcade and felt her day brightening as she saw Zack. He was dressed in just a black tshirt and shorts, and he was just getting ready to leave when she entered, but he then stopped and grinned widely at her.

"Hey sweet thing." He said cheerily, taking in the fact that she was in a sleeveless top and a sarong and feeling his attraction to her increase even more than normal.

"Hi Zack, what are you doing here?" she asked sweetly, liking what she saw a little too much more than she was used to.

"I was just going to find Cody and the others, but I'm sure I could spend some time with you if you want me to..." he said suggestively, and she smiled.

"Alright, sure." She said, then looked around, frowning.

"What's up?"

"There's nothing free." She said, put out, and slightly disappointed that she wouldn't be able to spend time with Zack.

"Course there is, the pool table's free." Zack said, leading her towards it.

Maddie gave him a rueful grin.

"I can't play pool." She said, and Zack grinned.

"Then I'll teach you." He said with a grin.

Maddie looked at him, a smile playing on her lips. The thought of spending time with Zack was quite good actually...

"Ok, but if I suck I'm blaming you." She said, and Zack grinned.

Zack couldn't keep his eyes off her as he taught her, straightening her aim and guiding her hand. For years, he had wanted an excuse to be this close to Maddie, and now he was this close to her. He couldn't keep his eyes off of her tanned body, and kept smiling as he remembered the kiss she had given him when he had fought to save her from the young prince of Lichtenstamp. He had felt something then...was it possible that now that she was back, his feelings were going into overload? Or was he actually in love with her like Cody thought he was?

Maddie couldn't stop thinking about Zack as he guided her hand. She had always known that he had had a crush on her, but now, she was beginning to think of him in the same way. Since leaving the Tipton, he had developed into a mature, fun loving, attractive young man...and Maddie couldn't stop thinking about him. The memory of the kiss she had given him the last time she had been aboard was playing fondly in her mind...was she falling for him?

"Gently..." Zack said, his voice husky in her ear, and his arm wrapped around her waist, and the other gently on top of her forearm.

Maddie looked into his eyes, and as he looked back, she had a sudden desire to kiss him. He was so close...so warm...so there...why shouldn't she?

Zack looked at the girl he had crushed on for years, and felt his throat go dry. He could see her beautiful blue eyes, her blonde eyelashes, and he began to edge closer, angling his face a little bit as did she, and they got closer still...

And then the ship's horn blared, making them both jump in fright and they broke off. Zack looked at Maddie and she smiled, then turned and left.

What the hell had just come over them? Yeah, he'd been attracted to her for years, but now...they had nearly kissed, and not for any reason, but because they had wanted to. Zack frowned, then hurried to find Cody.

XX

Marcus, Woody, Zack and Cody were all at the swimming pool, lounging around. Everyone aside from Cody was meant to be doing homework, as he had already done his, but the three of them were much too concerned about girls to be doing much work. However, for a change, their eyes weren't taking in every swimsuit clad girl who went past, they were instead talking about one girl in particular.

"So where do you reckon I should take London? The Fiesta Deck restaurant?" Marcus queried while looking at the report he was meant to be writing on the transfer of nutrients to the soil.

"I reckon you should maybe go a bit higher up." Cody said, as he read over Zack's work.

"Anyway I'm going there with Addison tonight." Woody said.

Marcus continued to ponder where he should take London while Cody fixed a couple of Zack's spelling mistakes. When he crossed out three words in a row and never received an indignant exclamation, he looked curiously at his twin brother. Zack was sitting in his swimming shorts, looking up at the sky, and it looked as if he wasn't even physically with them at all.

"Zack are you alright?" Cody asked in concern, moving over to sit on the same sunbed as his twin.

"Yeah..." he said in a far off voice, and Cody wasn't fooled for a moment.

"Zack?" he asked, waving his hand in front of his brother's face, making Zack come back to earth.

"Sorry Cody."

"What's wrong?" Cody asked worriedly, wondering what could be distracting Zack of all people.

"Earlier...me and Maddie almost kissed." Zack admitted quietly so Marcus and Woody wouldn't hear.

Cody smiled.

"What's so bad about that? You've had feelings for her for years." He reasoned.

"Yeah I know...but now I cant stop thinking about her. I just keep imagining how close we were, and I wanted more..." Zack said, and Cody grinned.

"What are you afraid of?" he asked shrewdly, though he thought he knew the answer.

Zack looked at his twin brother and sighed.

"I'm afraid of falling in love with her." He stated helplessly.

Cody had suspected as much. Zack, who was used to doing nothing more with a girl for more than a week, wasn't used to thinking so much about one girl. True, he had fancied her for years, and had always been attracted to her. But now they were both older, he wasn't a boy she thought just had a crush on her anymore he was an attractive, mature (well, mostly), young man now. And she wasn't just someone who Zack could be attracted to in peace, she was a lot more accessible now than she had been before, no longer a kid's crush but a serious possibility of something more. And because Zack had never had anything like that before he didn't know what to do.

Cody patted Zack's shoulder sympathetically.

"I think it might be a little too late to worry about that." He said.

Zack smiled sadly.

"You reckon?" he asked half-heartedly.

"You tell me." Cody said softly.

Zack sighed and knew Cody was right. It was a little too late to worry about falling in love with her, because now he thought about it, he probably had been in love with her all along.

"Ok...I'm in love with Maddie." He said, but rather than looking happy about it, he looked upset.

"So what's wrong?" Cody asked in confusion, not seeing why Zack would be upset about being in love with a girl he'd wanted to be with for years.

"I can't be in love with her." Zack said miserably, got up and headed off for his cabin.

Temporarily thrown by the sadness in his brother's voice, Cody recovered and hurried after his brother.

XX

Bailey and Maddie were standing silently down at where the boys were working. Bailey couldn't get her argument with Cody out of her head. Their talk before had been horribly cold, but in class they had gotten on nearly as normal, though the two of them had been a little angrier than they usually would be.

And that silly little argument had shown Bailey that she missed him like crazy. She knew they had made a mistake in breaking up. She wanted to try and patch things up with him...she still loved him after all. She missed Cody like hell and wanted just to get back with him and forget the entire thing and go back to normal with him. The thought of not being able to kiss him again, not being able to hug him, not being able to have another silly mock argument with him, not being able to study with him, not being able to laugh with him...it drove her mad.

And now, considering he was only clad in swim shorts and she could see him, she was regretting what had happened more than ever.

Maddie looked down at Zack, clad only in swimshorts and her mind ran away with her. Earlier, when they had nearly kissed...she hadn't wanted to be interrupted. She had wanted to kiss Zack, had wanted to tell him that she had somewhere along the line developed feelings for him. She wanted him to kiss her, wanted to wrap her arms around him and kiss him...

Since when did she become so attracted to Zack? She wanted him, needed him...was it possible she had fallen in love with him and not noticed? But how? She hadn't seen him in months...but ever since she had come aboard, while she wanted to help Bailey and see London, she also wanted to spend a lot of her time with Zack. What did that mean?

And the thought of that guy she was looking down at being with her...was quite...exciting really.

"Yoohoo, ladies!" London called to them, coming up beside them and seeing them stare down at Zack and Cody.

"What?" Bailey asked, startled, coming out of her reverie as she gazed down at the guy who wasn't hers anymore.

"Who?" Maddie asked, trying to cover up the fact that she had been staring at Zack.

London rolled her eyes.

"You two could at least pretend that you're not looking at them. And what's more Bailey, you shouldn't be looking at all, you aren't going out anymore." London scolded slightly, and Bailey pouted.

"I know." Bailey said miserably.

Did Cody feel the same way about her? Did he want to forget it had ever happened? Bailey didn't know. While she did want to fix their relationship and go back to the way they had been, she didn't want to come across as desperate...but when she loved him, what was she meant to do? Did she wait for him to talk to her? But...what if he didn't? Bailey looked miserably down at him, and pondered. If what London had told her was true...Cody missed her as much as she missed him. But...did that mean that they would take each other back?

"Bailey, why not just talk to him? He misses you like crazy, Zack told me. He reckons you both made a mistake." London said, and Bailey looked at her hopefully.

"Really?" she asked hopefully, and London nodded, smiling.

"Talk to him! Then we can all go back to normal." She said.

Maddie grinned at London. She was really coming through for her friend.

"What's made you so happy anyway?" she queried as Bailey looked speculatively down at Cody.

"Ooh, well...Marcus asked me out!" London said excitedly.

"Really? Wow, didn't see that one coming." Maddie said, but Bailey shook her head.

"I did, you'd be surprised how loud Marcus and Zack are when they're in their rooms and curious ears happen to be across the corridor..." she said suggestively.

London looked at her in confusion.

"Someone left ears in the corridor?"

Bailey rolled her eyes at Maddie, who sniggered.

"Anyway, we're going out tonight! So, enough of your problems, and help me choose what I'm going to where!" London ordered, and Maddie and Bailey smiled at each other.

As such, they began to follow her to the boutique the next level up, but Maddie seemed quite reluctant to get away from where they had been standing.

"Hey, Maddie...put your eyes back in. He'll still be on board when we come back you know." Bailey said with a smile.

Maddie looked at her defiantly.

"I don't know to what you are referring." She said with dignity, but Bailey just fixed her with a sceptical glance.

"Oh please...you and Zack have hardly been able to keep your eyes off of each other since you arrived. It's ok you know. He's not dating anyone at the moment...at least I don't think he is, I never can keep track with him." Bailey said speculatively.

Maddie smiled slightly. So Zack wasn't dating...

Bailey gave her a knowing smile, and they climbed the stairs to be greeted by their impatient friend, who was irritably tapping her foot, waiting for them.

XX

Cody entered Zack's room to find his brother sitting grumpily on the bed.

"What do you mean you can't be in love with her?" Cody asked in a concerned voice.

Zack looked down at the carpet.

"It doesn't matter." He said resentfully.

"Yeah it does, what's wrong?" Cody asked sitting beside his brother.

Zack looked at Cody. Yeah, he loved Maddie...but what chance did he have with her?

"Even if I tell Maddie how I feel about her...it's not as if she'd ever give me a second glance." He said miserably.

Cody looked at Zack in surprise. He was the one with confidence issues, not Zack. What had brought this on? Mind you, Maddie always had brought out a side of Zack that many other people never saw.

"What do you mean?" Cody asked his brother, who looked miserable.

Zack sighed. He didn't want to admit his fears to Cody. Yeah, he was in love with Maddie, but he'd rather just leave it at that...but he supposed that he had been there for Cody, so Cody was now trying to help him, because that's the sort of guy he was. And...maybe he would feel a bit better if he told Cody.

"Well it's just that Maddie is this gorgeous girl who I've always had a crush on, but to her I'll always be the boy who fancied her. She's this smart, sassy girl, who's going to college and..." Zack said, not wanting to admit his worst fear, but the look on Cody's face let him know he wouldn't laugh.

"And she'll meet loads of smart, good looking college guys who can offer her so much more than I can, because I'll always just be the dorky kid who fancied her at the Tipton." Zack said in a forlorn voice, his eyes full of sadness.

Cody looked at his brother in quiet shock. He had never heard Zack talk like this before. Zack had always been the confident one, the spunky one, who thought he was God's gift to women. But here he was, worrying that he wasn't good enough for the girl he'd loved for years.

"Zack...that so isn't true." Cody said, and as Zack had done the night before, he pulled his brother to him gently and wrapped him in a hug.

Zack said nothing and Cody began stroking his hair absently.

"First off, Maddie likes you, likes you a lot. Since she arrived she's hardly kept her eyes off you, and from what I've heard, she's actually really missed you lately. And trust me, you would definitely be good enough for her, you'd be good enough for any girl." Cody said encouragingly.

Zack looked up miserably at Cody, then cast his eyes down.

"Hey...look at me." Cody said softly, forcing Zack to look back at him, "you are a great guy. Sure you can be a bit of a jerk at times, but underneath all of that you're one of the best people I know. If you were as bad as you pretend to be, you wouldn't have cared what I was going through. But you did and you came and comforted me when I needed you. You're caring, you're smart, you're funny, and let's face it," Cody said with a grin, "we're both have great looks."

Zack smiled a little.

"And Maddie really does like you, and she might be going to college and have a lot of college guys fawning over her...but she'll always feel something for you. You were the first person who ever really was attracted to her before she started dating, and she's always going to remember that. She really likes you bro, and I know you like her loads too." Cody said softly.

Zack looked as though he was considering his twin's words.

"And anyway...you are good enough for her, and you can offer a whole load of stuff that those dorky college guys won't be able to. You two have a history for a start, you're a lot more relaxed than they are, you're better with girls than the vast majority of them will be, just like you're better with them than I am. You're fun, you always make her laugh or cheer her up, and if you ask me, she would be lucky to have you." Cody said earnestly.

Zack smiled at his brother thankfully and silently hugged him, and Cody happily hugged back. They sat there for a while, Cody reflecting on how glad he was that Zack had been there for him the last few days, and Zack thinking on how much his brother really loved him.

"Thanks Cody." Zack said with a small smile.

"You're welcome. So no more confidence issues. That's my job." Cody said with a rueful smile, poking his brother in the chest.

Zack smiled and put his arm around his brother's shoulders, but he still looked a little down.

"What's wrong?" Cody asked curiously.

"Well...fair enough I love Maddie, but I don't know if I should tell her that! Even if I did, how do we know she wouldn't laugh at me? And even if she didn't, she's still going to college, so what sort of relationship could we have? Love is very confusing." Zack sighed, and Cody grinned.

"Tell me about it. Well...you won't know unless you give it a try." Cody reasoned.

"You reckon I should?" Zack asked sceptically.

Cody smiled.

"Zack you love her. Better telling her rather than sitting around here and not even giving it a chance." Cody advised.

Zack looked at Cody speculatively. His twin did have a point. And guys kept hitting on Maddie. Zack had even gotten mad when Marcus had introduced himself to her. The thought of someone else being with her tore him apart. So, if he wanted to stop that happening, maybe he should talk to her...but what if she rejected him? Zack couldn't turn into the same mess Cody was in, well at least not at the moment. If both of them were in a state how would they ever get happier? But what if she didn't? Love was very strange. No wonder he only stayed with girls for a week or so.

"Cody..." he said hesitantly, "you know more about proper love don't you?" Zack asked, and Cody raised a sceptical eyebrow.

"You're talking to a guy who hasn't long split up with his girlfriend remember?" he asked, and Zack nodded concedingly.

"Yeah, but you didn't break up because you don't love each other. You broke up because...wait a minute...why did you break up?" Zack asked curiously.

He knew that they had broken up after a massive argument, but why hadn't they just done what they had done what they had done before and made up?

"Well, we both sort of agreed...we were accusing each other of being unfaithful, we said stuff that really hurt the other...and we didn't think it would keep working out because of all that so we just sort of...agreed to fall apart." Cody lamented.

"She still loves you." Zack said simply.

Cody thought about it. If Zack was right...Well Cody still loved Bailey as much as ever. He wanted to go to her, take back everything that he had said and beg for her to give them a second chance. He missed her like he had a hole in his heart, and he wanted nothing more than to go and see her, kiss her, hug her, be with her...but would she take him back?

"Anyway...you know more about love than I do, so...will you sort of give me a few pointers?" Zack asked hesitantly.

Cody looked at Zack in great surprise. _Zack_ was coming to _him_ for advice to do with girls? There was something he didn't think he'd ever see. Zack looked at him uncertainly, wondering that if his frequent put downs of Cody's efforts with girls would make him unwilling to help him. Love, proper love was more Cody's field. Getting dates and keeping them happy was Zack's field. Cody then smiled and nodded.

"Thanks pal." Zack said and hugged his brother again.

"You're welcome. If I use the six month plan..." Cody said to himself, but Zack shook his head.

"She's only here for a week dude!"

"I know that. Right, leave it to me." Cody said, getting up and kissing Zack's forehead.

"Thanks for cheering me up bro." Zack said with a smile, getting up to go back outside.

"I told you I would be there for you too." Cody said, and Zack grinned and pulled his brother into a one armed hug as they left the cabin.

XX

Moseby and Tutweiller pondered the situation over their spaghetti.

"So Zack and Maddie have sort of had a thing for years?" she asked curiously.

"Yes, well Zack always fancied her when we were at the Tipton, and according to reports I've had from Esteban and Arwin it looks like she's beginning to reciprocate those feelings." Moseby said, stabbing a meatball.

"That's romantic..." Tutweiller said, looking off into space, and Moseby smiled.

"So, aside from one of their little arguments, did anything else happen on the Cody and Bailey front?" Moseby asked.

"No, but apparently Woody is still dating Addison, and I heard Marcus agonising over whether or not to ask London out." Tutweiller informed him.

Moseby was impressed. He knew that Marcus had a thing for London, and it would be good for her to get someone who actually knew how to deal with someone like her. And besides, it might take her off his hands for a while.

"So how will we get them together?" Tutweiller asked, eager to continue scheming, as it was quite fun, and her company wasn't bad either.

"Well I had a cunning plan. What if we organised a dance? On Friday, the night before Madeline leaves, it's been a while since the students had a night off, and we could see if they would want to go together." Moseby said impressively.

Tutweiller nodded along.

"Yes, that sounds good. But...we would need to go to chaperone." She said resentfully.

Moseby smiled.

"Well I can see a way that will improve it for the both of us..." he said suggestively, and she giggled.

XX

Later on, Cody was pacing his room, still wondering what to do about Bailey. Earlier, a notice had appeared, announcing a student dance that was to be held on Friday, and it said that they were to bring a partner if they were attending. Cody knew who he wanted to bring...Bailey. He loved her, and he certainly didn't want her going with anyone else but him. Not because he was selfish, but because he knew it would break his heart to see her go with anyone else. He missed her so much it was driving him mad.

Sighing, he pondered on what to do. Did he ask her to the dance just as friends? Or did he try and reconcile with her, try to get back with her, apologise for everything he said and did and, like Zack said, tell her he loved her?

He didn't know what to do. All he knew was that he loved her and that he definitely wanted to get back with her. The only problem was that he didn't know if she felt the same way. But...she had been alright with him earlier, just like normal. Maybe she still felt something for him...

Grimly, he made a decision. He had to go and ask Bailey to the dance, and if they came onto what had happened between them, well he would deal with that at the time.

He headed for the girls dormitory, hoping that London was away for her date with Marcus and that Bailey was alone. He didn't much fancy having a long and uncomfortable talk with Bailey if London was on hand making her odd comments.

On his way there, he saw Maddie gazing off the edge of the sky deck, looking up at the sky wistfully. Curious, and remembering his promise to help Zack, he headed on down to stand beside her.

"Hey Maddie, what's up?" Cody asked curiously, following his friend's gaze to look at the stars.

Maddie sighed.

"Oh it's nothing Cody. And you have enough to worry about at the moment." She said, but Cody shook his head.

"Maybe, but not when you're upset. What's wrong?" he asked again.

Maddie looked at Cody, so similar to Zack, but so different at the same time. It was strange. But maybe Cody would be able to help her see how she should go about her situation.

"Well earlier...Zack and I nearly kissed." She admitted, blushing slightly, wondering how Cody would react.

His lips tugged up slightly, but he remained impassive.

"I know, Zack told me. So what's so wrong about that?" he asked, wondering how she truly felt about Zack.

Maddie sighed.

"I think...I think...promise you won't tell him?" Maddie asked worriedly, and Cody braced himself, not wanting to go to Zack and comfort him if indeed Maddie felt nothing for him.

"Promise."

"Well...I think I've fallen in love with him." She said sheepishly, not sure why she was admitting this to Zack's twin brother.

Cody smiled at her.

"And what's so bad about that?" he asked, feeling that he hadn't really said anything original today and this was simply a rehash of his earlier conversation.

"Well nothing...but it's just that I...I just...well when I came back here, I really missed him. I didn't think I would miss him as much as I did, but ever since I kissed him last time I was aboard I can't stop thinking about him. Ever since then, I've imagined myself spending time with him, dating him, being with him...and I can't stop it. I've fallen for Zack, after all those years of him telling me I would, and now that I have I don't have a clue what to do." She said irritably.

Cody smiled to himself, vowing never to reveal to Zack that Maddie couldn't stop thinking about him since she had kissed him, he was already quite insufferable when it came to his views on what he was to women. And the news that the girl he was in love with felt that way would just make him worse.

"Well, pardon me for sounding silly, but wouldn't it be better just to talk to Zack?" he asked gently, and Maddie looked at him curiously.

"Look, don't tell Zack I told you this, but it's pretty obvious that he's liked you since day one. And considering he hasn't even so much as looked at another girl since you've arrived, I reckon he still feels pretty strongly for you, and not looking at another girl for a whole day is quite the accomplishment." Cody reasoned, and she smiled.

"Yeah, so I've heard. But..." Maddie said uncertainly.

Cody arched an eyebrow curiously.

"What's up?" he asked, patting her hand.

"Well I've heard that Zack is a bit of a..." she said uncertainly, as though she was afraid of offending Cody as well as Zack, despite how she felt about him.

"A what? An idiot? He acts that way sometimes, but deep...very deep...down he really isn't." Cody assured her, and he supposed it wasn't necessarily a fib, but it wasn't necessarily true either.

"No, not an idiot. A player! He drifts from girl to girl, not caring about them...so how can I be sure I would be any different?" she demanded, admitting her deepest fear: that if she tried anything with Zack he would be there for a while then would turn on to someone else.

Cody looked at her pityingly.

"Look...Zack...he isn't a player." He said loyally.

Maddie looked at him sceptically but decided to let it go.

"He just...treats women a little bit wrong. He treats them as objects or prizes to be won, when he shouldn't. But you were always different. He always treated you properly, with respect. Maddie, Zack still really likes you, and trust me, he wouldn't treat you like that. He cares about you too much." Cody said, and Maddie smiled at him.

"Thanks Cody. So...you reckon Zack would...I don't know, go out with me?" she asked uncertainly, wondering why she was blushing.

"I don't know...but maybe you should just give it a bit of time." Cody advised mysteriously, and grinned.

Maddie shook her head, smiling then wrapped Cody in a hug.

"Thanks Cody. And don't you dare tell Zack I'm in love with him!" she warned, and he shook his head.

"Don't worry I won't. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go and talk to Bailey...I hope." He said uncertainly and headed for the girls dormitories.

Maddie smiled. So Cody reckoned that Zack had deep feelings for her still? Interesting. Smiling happily, her mind running away with her again, she decided to head for the spa to keep her mind off of Zack.

XX

Bailey had spent ages working up the courage to go and talk to Cody. The news that there was a dance in a few days had given her the extra boost she needed. Sure, Cody might not be as popular with girls as Zack was, but there was still plenty of girls who were interested in _her_ guy, including all those girls in the Home Economics class. She couldn't bear the thought of Cody going with one of them. They only loved him because he was good at cooking. She loved him because he was him. And she missed him like crazy.

So, plucking up her courage, she was going to go and ask him if he wanted to go to the dance with her. If he said no, then fair enough, she would let it go and try and find someone else who might want to take her. But if he said yes, as she wanted him to do, or hoped that he would ask her first, then she would see how it went before bringing up their breakup. She missed him so much...

But as she walked out onto the sky deck, she looked down and saw Cody wrapped around Maddie. Hurt blossomed inside her heart. The two of them certainly looked far too cozy to be just friends. Devastation welled up in her, and her eyes brimmed with tears. She supposed she shouldn't have expected anything less. After all, she had really hurt Cody when they had broken up, and the look he had given her when Holden had made a pass at her...well that had been enough to show her that he was really hurt by the breakup and the aftermath. Maybe he had just gone to Maddie for comfort, and things had transpired from there.

Biting back a sob, she looked down at them sadly. They broke apart and were talking. She wiped her eyes, and it finally sunk in that she was too late. They should never have broken up, but now that they had she had lost him for good. Bailey sniffed. Cody must be really angry with her, because the fact that he was now with one of her friends hurt even more. And the fact that it was Maddie...who Zack was definitely in love with, made it all the worse. She supposed Cody must just be as messed up as she was and didn't notice that being with Maddie would probably hurt Zack as well.

Wiping back tears, she headed back for her room to do what she probably should have done in the first place.

XX

Cody had intended to go straight to Bailey's room after he had left Maddie, but he had most unfortunately been caught by Connie, who had forced him to play a round of bingo with the senior passengers. When he had won the first jackpot, they had all gotten incredibly grumpy and he had managed to make his escape, but his wallet was fifty dollars heavier from the game. He dashed to Bailey's room, used his hands to brush his hair away from his face, took a deep breath and knocked.

After a couple of minutes, there was no answer, so he knocked again. Concerned when he received no answer, he hammered on the door.

"Bailey, are you in there?" he called, worried something was wrong.

He still received no answer, so concerned, headed to try and find Kirby or Mr Moseby who would be able to help.

XX

Moseby looked sadly down at the paper in front of him, while Tutweiller stood beside him, her fairy substantial powers of persuasion having not proved enough.

"A great pity..." Moseby said sadly.

"I know. I've only got one good student left! Poor Bailey...but I thought you said Maddie liked Zack?" she asked hysterically.

"She does, but Zack was in his room..." Moseby said, his voice trailing off.

"What?" Tutweiller asked curiously.

"Unless Bailey got the wrong end of the stick." Moseby said speculatively.

"How do you mean?" she asked.

"Well isn't that what broke Cody and Bailey up in the first place? Them getting the wrong end of the stick with each other? What if it happened again, and she saw Cody and Maddie together and though the wrong thing? That would make more sense...especially if Cody was talking to Maddie about Zack!" Moseby realised.

"Oh no..." Tutweiller said, just as the lift opened to reveal Zack, grinning broadly.

"Hey Mr Moseby! Hey Miss T!" he said cheerily.

"She must have, because London would have said...oh my god!" Moseby exclaimed.

"What's wrong?" Zack asked looking worried.

"Bailey is leaving the ship." Tutweiller said sadly, and Zack looked at her in surprise. Bailey loved being on the ship, so why was she suddenly leaving? Unless it was to do with Cody...

"She's got the wrong idea though. She's making a mistake! Oh god, why didn't we see it before?" Moseby cried to the heavens, looking around desperately for a solution.

"Wait, has she left yet?" Zack demanded. If Bailey was leaving, it would finish Cody off...and if she did what he thought she was doing it would be even worse.

"No, not yet, but..." Tutweiller said.

"Then what are we standing here for then! MOVE!" Zack roared and Moseby and Tutweiller both jumped to attention and started dashing for the stairs up to the higher decks, Miss Tutweiller kicking off her high heel shoes as she went, with Zack close behind.

They hurtled up the decks, knocking passengers for six as the three of them charged for the helipad.

"But how is she going to get the helicopter pilot to go?" Zack asked as they came to the second last deck.

"She had a diamond necklace in her hand, she must be using that. She's clearly not thinking clearly!" Tutweiller exclaimed as they shoved Kirby back into the buffet hall he had just exited.

"Really, you think?" Moseby demanded as they climbed the steps to the helipad just to see the helicopter vanish into a bank of cloud above them.

"No, no wait!" Moseby called, running after them.

"Mr Moseby!" Zack cried out in warning, and the next thing they heard was Moseby falling off the helipad and splashing into the pool the half deck below.

"Man overboard...again." Tutweiller said, which she had been saying rather a lot since she had met him.

They got down to the half deck and he spurted some water out of his mouth as they helped him out.

"We were too late...she's in such a state she isn't thinking clearly, Cody wouldn't move on that quickly..." Tutweiller said, dabbing Moseby's head with her hanky.

"What? She thought Cody had found another girl? She's crazy! He's still as in love with her as he ever was, he _wouldn't_ go onto another girl! And besides, he's not me, so he definitely wouldn't be that fast either. Why didn't you stop her?" Zack asked, fearing how he was going to break it to his brother that the girl he still loved had left the ship.

"I know Zack, we should have, but she sprung it on us, and she had all her things...she just threw us, we couldn't get our heads around it quickly enough." Moseby said as Tutweiller finished drying his face, both of them looking sad.

There was then the sound of steps on the stairs, and Zack knew who it was before they even spoke.

"Mr Moseby, Bailey might be in trouble. I don't know, but no matter how mad we are at each other she wouldn't lock the door the way she did, and besides, London isn't back yet." Cody said breathlessly, as he saw Moseby, who was soaking wet, Tutweiller and Zack, all looking sad and hesitant.

"No she isn't Cody. She isn't in her room if that's what you're worried about." Tutweiller said sadly.

"Where is she then?" Cody asked, a horrible feeling in his stomach.

"She left bro." Zack said softly.

Cody looked at Zack, fear filling him.

"What do you mean she left?" he asked, his voice wavering.

"She's left the ship buddy. She got London's helicopter pilot to take her back to Kettlecorn." Zack said sadly, knowing what this was going to do to Cody.

"What? She just left...?" Cody in a quiet, disbelieving voice.

"Yeah. She's not thinking right, this isn't like her but, the breakup's done a number on both of you." Zack said, walking over beside his brother, while Tutweiller and Moseby looked on sadly.

Cody looked at Zack, and then looked up at the pad, and saw, to his horror, that the helicopter was indeed gone. Zack looked at his brother sadly, as tears welled into his eyes.

"Oh...she's gone." He said simply, taking a couple of steps back in shock.

"Cody..." Zack said softly, as a splash of warm rain fell onto the deck.

"I guess...I guess I deserve it...I suppose I drove her to it...and anyway...she'll be happier away from me anyway, and she deserves that at least." Cody said, tears coming down his face.

"Cody, no..." Zack said miserably, not wanting him to do this to himself.

"And...she left without saying goodbye..." Cody said, just as the rain started pouring down on them.

Zack couldn't stand it anymore and wrapped his brother in a hug and he felt Cody start to cry into his shoulder. Bailey had left, before Cody had even talked to her, and hadn't said goodbye because it would be too painful for her. And in her wake she had left Cody even more heartbroken than he had been before. He only wished the two of them had sorted things out before all this happened. As Zack hugged his brother tightly and stroked his hair, he looked desperately at Moseby.

"Can't we go after her?" he asked.

Moseby shook his head sadly.

"I'm afraid not Zack. The wind's in their favour, we would never catch up to them. I'm sorry." He said sadly.

Cody continued to cry, his heart broken again, onto Zack's shoulder in the rain. Zack hugged him tighter and stroked his hair, trying to soothe him, because that was all he could do. What happened to all the stories where love conquered all? Because all it had done here was break Cody and Bailey's hearts repeatedly.

As such, with nothing to say, Zack just stood there in the pouring rain, hugging his brother tightly and stroking his hair, and was then joined by an already wet Moseby, who clapped Cody's shoulder in a fatherly way, and by an increasingly wet Tutweiller, who patted Cody on the back as he cried.

XX

Bailey looked down at the black night sea below her as the helicopter took her back to America. She just couldn't have done it, couldn't have stayed on the ship where she would see the guy she loved every day with someone else. Not when she still loved Cody so much. So, in order for him to be happy, she had left the ship. Moseby and Tutweiller had been shocked, so shocked that they couldn't have thought up an argument for her to stay, so Bailey had gone to the pilot, who was already heading back to America, and asked if he would take her too, and he had agreed.

And now, she was going away from the ship where she had been so happy, away from her friends...away from Cody.

Giving a sob, she leaned her head against the cool window, and thought on what she had lost. This was her own decision. And, ignoring the misgivings in her heart, she stamped out the thoughts that she had made the wrong choice and settled in for the ride, missing Cody all the way.

XX

"Well thank you for that lovely dinner Marcus." London said as she walked arm in arm with him back to her cabin.

"That's alright London. Did you like the show afterwards?"

They had first gone out to dinner, and then they had went to a hypnotist show, which London had fortunately gotten through without being hypnotised.

"Yeah, it was good, and at least I didn't wind up like Bailey this time. I mean some of the things she wears are just...uh." she said with a shudder, and Marcus laughed.

They had had a good night, full of talking and laughter, and Marcus would consider their first date a complete success if she kissed him on the cheek as he left her at her room.

"I had fun tonight Marcus." She said idly.

"Yeah me too London." Marcus said with a grin, and they reached her door, which she opened, and then frowned.

"London?" he asked curiously.

"Something's wrong...there's no weird animals on the walls...no books on the table, no weird chicken clock...where's Bailey?" London demanded, entering the room, with Marcus following her worriedly.

Marcus looked around, and saw that there were indeed none of Bailey's things in the room. All that was on Bailey's bed was the five hundred dollars and the two diamond necklaces that London had given her to try and cheer her up.

"Bailey? This is no time to be playing hide and seek." She said in a chirpy voice as she opened a drawer, as if expecting Bailey to be there.

Marcus looked at London incredulously. Yeah, he liked her a lot, but...well she still wasn't the loudest note in the song.

"She's gone London." A voice said, and London and Marcus turned to see Maddie enter, looking sad.

"What do you mean, she's gone?" London asked.

"As in she's left the ship."

Marcus shook his head.

"She can't have. There's no way off the ship unless it's docked, that was one of the reasons Mr Tipton apparently put London here in the first place!" Marcus explained to London's eager nods.

"Yes...but she got off the ship the same way I got on. Your helicopter was going back to America, and Bailey hitched along for the ride." Maddie said sadly, sitting down on Bailey's bed.

"Oh no...she's gone?" London asked in a defeated voice, and sat down on her own bed, and Marcus sat down beside her.

Bailey had gone, and had apparently gone before she had lost her nerve by saying goodbye. God, the breakup must have been even worse than they had thought to make her just want to run off.

"I mean, I did want her to go...at first, but I don't now! Bring her back! And if you're granting wishes ask daddy to extend my allowance again!" she called up to the heavens, her voice sounding excited at the prospect of more money.

"Yeah, and if you are in a wish granting mood, I could do with some skill at chess!" Marcus called, having been thrashed at the game by Cody the week before.

"She's gone..." Maddie said sadly, already missing her friend.

London looked uncertainly at Marcus, who smiled reassuringly.

"Don't worry...we won't get like that." He assured her, and London smiled widely and hugged him.

"Yay us!"

Maddie rolled her eyes in amusement as the ship gave a mournful honk as if to lament it's departed student.

**Hello again!**

**Ok, I know I was meant to update Charmed, do the Charmed one shot and update Fate of the Force, but what can I say, I'm a sucker for a romance story!**

**Yet more heartbreak in this one, and Bailey has gone, so both her and Cody are hurting again. And Zack is in love with Maddie, and she with him, so what will happen with that? I hope you liked the little bit of Cody being there for Zack this time around.**

**Woody and Addison are still going strong, and Marcus and London have had their first successful date! Even Moseby and Tutweiller are getting closer together.**

**So what will happen next? Will Zack and Maddie tell each other how they feel? Will Cody and Bailey ever reconcile? Who will the fight be between next chapter, because there is one coming! And who is the, for want of a better term, villain of the story? As he makes an appearance next chapter as well!**

**And will everything be fixed in time for the dance?**

**Time will tell! I hope you're enjoying reading this as much as I am writing it, but I'm afraid I really must do some of my other stories (he says hopefully), but you never know!**

**So, until next time, please read and review!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own Suite Life (or the episodes would come a lot quicker)**

Recovery

Cody looked out at the sea that the ship was drifting through with so little effort. He didn't blame Bailey, he thought miserably as he looked down at the churning seas. He supposed it was a dream that he would have been able to keep her. She was beautiful, smart, sassy, funny...what sort of a chance did he have? Zack was right. He was always just going to be the nerdy kid brother of Zack, the one who people picked on and laughed at while his brother had success with friends and girls as much as he could ever want.

He sniffed. Bailey had been right to leave him. It just hurt, really badly, that she had left without saying goodbye. Maybe he hadn't meant anything to her after all...

"Cody?" Zack asked quietly, coming up beside him.

"Hey Zack." He said miserably.

Zack looked at his brother. He had known he had felt bad the day after he and Bailey had split up, but now...now it was even worse.

"Cody..." he began, but for once in his life didn't know what to say. What did you say to someone who'd had their heart broken twice by the girl you were hopelessly in love with?

"You were right Zack." He said in a small voice, and Zack looked at him curiously.

"About what?" Zack asked, though considering how miserable he looked, Zack had a horrible suspicion he knew what about, and it made his stomach drop like a stone.

"You were always right. I'm pathetic. I should stick to books, you're always better at this sort of thing than I was. You wouldn't be stupid enough to fall like this for a girl, wouldn't be stupid enough to be hurt, wouldn't get so bad out of shape. And anyway, Bailey deserves someone better than me, someone who'll make her happy. All I did was make her miserable, that's why she left. And she left without saying goodbye...doesn't that show how miserable I made her? She dated the wrong brother." Cody moaned, tears running down his face, and before Zack could open his mouth to tell him he was wrong, Cody turned and ran for his room.

Zack looked at his brother's retreating back, his body numb with shock. All the time had had felt dwarfed next to Cody because his brother was so clever and brainy, so studious. But during all that time, Cody had felt the other way around, and that Zack was the better one out of the two of them. He had known his self esteem issues were bad, but Zack didn't know that Cody felt so bad about himself. And every day he had reinforced that with his treatment of his brother, making him out to be a dork, casually chipping away at whatever self esteem the poor kid had. No wonder he didn't want to spend any time with Zack. He must hate him for how bad he's made him feel over the years, especially as he now felt that Zack had been right all along.

Zack looked miserably at where Cody had disappeared, and rubbed a couple of tears from his own eyes. He didn't blame Bailey. She had just fled to try and get away from the pain she was in, like he suspected Cody might have done given half a chance. But now...

How the hell did he cheer his baby brother up? How did he make him feel better about himself when he was so miserable, and worse, actually believing some of the horrible stuff his brother had said to him?

"Zack, are you alright?" a kind, warm voice asked, and it seemed to fill Zack with hope, and he turned to see Maddie coming towards him, looking concerned.

"It's Cody. He's a wreck! Bailey leaving, without saying anything as well, they've just finished him off. He doesn't think he ever should have been with her and that she's happier with someone else. He thinks I'd be better off with her." He said miserably.

As he turned to look at where Cody had vanished with a worried expression, Maddie looked at him reproachfully. Did he actually think that way about Bailey?

"But I never loved her like I did, and I would have just been my usual self with her, and that would have made things even worse! Worst of all, all the horrible stuff I've said to him, he's starting to believe it because he's so miserable." Zack wailed.

Maddie felt a little guilty for being happy that Zack would have treated Bailey as he treated everyone else. But would he treat her the same way...? Shaking these thoughts from her head, she stood beside him and put her arm around him, and he looked at her sadly.

"Why did he have to get so bad out of shape?" he asked miserably.

"I know. But if it's any consolation Bailey wasn't thinking clearly either, and I think it was a spur-of-the-moment thing." She said grimly.

"Well her spur of the moment thing is really getting on my spurs, and has totally spurred him up." Zack said, and Maddie looked at him with a raised eyebrow and a slight grin.

"You know what I mean." Zack said, and, despite the worry he felt for his brother, he couldn't help but feel conscious, and excited, of how close the two of them were, the fact that her arm was around him and he turned to her, looking into her eyes and without being aware of what he was doing, snaking an arm around her waist, and he was happy that she didn't push it off.

"So what do I do?" he asked, and he was surprised by how husky and quiet his voice was.

"He's your brother. Just be there for him." She said, looking deep into his eyes and fighting down an uncontrollable impulse to kiss him.

"Thanks Maddie." He said, but found himself unable to pull himself away from her.

"Zack..." she said softly, and then she stood on her toes and edged closer...

Then the horn blared, and the illusion shattered and they broke apart. Zack glared up at the horn, wondering what he could do to sabotage it, when Maddie spoke again.

"You just need to be there for him Zack. You're a good brother to him you know." She said and kissed his cheek fondly, and Zack felt a rush of exhilaration, as she smiled at him and headed off.

Zack looked at where she disappeared, and when he was sure she had gone, dashed for the safety of the port deck.

XX

Maddie's mind was a hive of thoughts as she headed away. That was the second time in two days that she had nearly kissed Zack.

This was mad. For heaven's sake, she used to babysit him! She shouldn't be feeling these sorts of things for him! He was three years younger than her. But the fact remained that she couldn't stop thinking about him, and had actually wanted to kiss him. The kiss she had given him in Lichtenstamp was etched into her memory, and she wanted more...and he seemed to feel the same way. But, as she had thought before, he even admitted himself that he was a player. Did she want to be casually thrown aside by Zack? The answer was obviously no. But...what if he could change?

Contemplating the fact that she was falling for Zack, she looked out at the sea and wondered sadly what to do about the Bailey thing. Cody was still a wreck, and Bailey's abrupt departure had hurt them all. Poor Bailey had probably not been thinking clearly and it had been a spur of the moment thing as she had said to Zack...but that didn't make things any easier. London was sad that her roommate was gone, and so was she too, now she came to think of it. Cody was devastated, and Zack was upset because Cody was in such a mess. She had to admit, Zack had really come through for his brother. She had always known he wasn't as cold and uncaring as he pretended to be. Smiling slightly at the thought of Zack with his arm wrapped tenderly around her, she didn't notice London come up behind her.

"Hi Maddie!" she said, making Maddie jump in fright.

"London! Don't sneak up on people like that." She scolded.

London smiled.

"Oh I didn't sneak up, you can't sneak up on anyone in a pair of three thousand dollar shoes. It's just that..your heads in the clouds." She said teasingly.

"You paid three thousand dollars for a pair of shoes?" Maddie demanded, totally ignoring London's other comment.

"They were half price, but anyway, your head's in the clouds!" London repeated in a sing song voice.

"I don't know what you mean." Maddie said, determinedly not meeting her friend's eyes.

"Maddie, I might be stupider than Jupiter, but I can tell when someone's thinking of a guy. You think Cody and Bailey could date for a year and I wouldn't notice? When she was thinking of him she went sort of vacant, like she wasn't here...sort of like my usual expression!" she said brightly.

Maddie smiled slightly.

"I wasn't thinking of a guy." She said, trying to fob her friend off, but she could tell from London's unusually shrewd expression that it wasn't going to work.

"Yes you were. Zack again?" she asked.

Maddie sighed, giving up.

"London, I used to babysit him and Cody. But now, I can't stop thinking about him. Twice in the last two days the two of us have nearly wound up kissing."

"Would that be such a bad thing?" London asked.

Maddie frowned out at the sea.

"I don't know. At times, I can't imagine not being with him, and like when he was holding me a while ago...I didn't want him to stop. But when I got away from him, I remembered that he's a player who likes messing around with girls a little too much. Cody reckons I'm different but..." Maddie said worriedly.

London looked at her friend curiously. Maddie had definitely fallen for Zack but didn't know if Zack reciprocated, or if she did, she was worried she would be cast aside the next time some beautiful girl came along. But, despite Zack's track record suggesting the contrary, she didn't think he would. He seemed different with Maddie than he did with other girls. Fair enough, he acted pretty usual when he was around her and Bailey, though whether that was because he knew about Marcus and Cody's feelings for them she didn't know. But with other girls he acted as if he was god's gift and was all over them and acted surprised if they dumped him or they have him a little of his own medicine. Maddie on the other hand was different. He acted more mature, more caring when he was around her. More adult.

"Maddie, I reckon Zack does feel for you a lot different than he feels about everyone else. He acts more like Cody when he's around you, more sort of grown up. He feels differently about you than he does any other girl, I know that much." London said.

Maddie smiled as she thought about that, imagining herself with Zack as she did so. And she wondered whether she should do anything about her feelings before she left.

XX

Zack leaned against the railings, breathing heavily. That had been the second time the two of them had nearly kissed, and he was once again bitterly wishing the ship didn't have a horn. The two of them were so close, and Zack was wishing he could have more time with her, more moments like that. But she would leave at the end of the week, and then she would go back to Boston and he wouldn't see for ages. But what if she did feel the same way about him as he did about her? He knew he felt differently about her than any other girl, and if Cody was right, and Zack had every reason to believe he was, he had fallen in love with Maddie, like he had always promised her he would. But did she want him to make good on that promise?

"Hey Zack, what's up with you?" Marcus asked curiously as he came up beside his friend.

"Maddie and I nearly kissed." Zack answered truthfully.

"Ok...failing to see why this is a bad thing." Marcus said.

"It's a bad thing because I think I'm in love with her, and I don't have a clue how she feels about me, or if she would even be interested in me, or if I'd scare her off because she thinks I would dump her after being with her a while...why am I such an idiot with girls?" he asked resentfully.

Marcus looked at him in surprise. It wasn't like Zack to admit he was wrong about something, especially girls. But the way he was acting, so miserable at the thought of him and Maddie not being together, that was definitely a more Cody like behaviour. Strange.

"Easy dude, we can only handle one twin breaking down at a time." Marcus said, patting Zack's shoulder, and Zack gave him a smile.

"Thanks. But what do I do?" he asked, and Marcus looked at him questioningly.

"I don't know. Have you actually just talked to Maddie?" he asked, just as Moseby came up beside them.

"I wouldn't know what to say. And besides...I shouldn't be thinking about all this anyway! Cody's still a mess because of Bailey leaving, and how can I help him if I'm worrying about Maddie?" he asked, and both Marcus and Moseby looked at him in surprise.

It wasn't like Zack to forestall girls for anyone, least of all his brother, but here he was, contemplating sacrificing his chances with Maddie in order to help his brother.

"I must say Zack, I am very impressed by how much you've been there to help Cody." Moseby said proudly.

"Thanks Mr Moseby." Zack said with a grin.

"How is Cody anyway?" he asked curiously, while Marcus looked on in concern.

"He's a wreck! Bailey leaving the way she did has got him thinking all sorts of bad things, making him think he never deserved to have her in the first place, and he's starting to believe that she'd have been better off with me. I don't know what to do!"

He didn't know what to do to cheer Cody up, he didn't know if he should talk to Maddie about how he felt, and he didn't know who he should go to first. Should he follow his heart and go to Maddie, or should he follow his brotherly love and go to Cody?

"Well we can't help you Zack...just follow your heart. And I know you'll make the right decision." Moseby said proudly, and Marcus grinned as he and the hotelier left.

They expected him to make the right decision? How the hell was he meant to do that? He had never been so confused? He loved both Maddie and Cody. Maddie would only be here a few more days before she went back to the Tipton for the rest of her summer holidays...but on the other hand Cody was still a mess and Zack had to admit he was worried about how he was taking this, and was slightly afraid he might hurt himself. Not seriously of course, but he had never seen Cody so down...and now he was believing everything Zack had ever said to him. What sort of brother was he that made his brother feel so bad about himself?

But then, even as he thought of his upset brother, broken hearted by the girl he loved and feeling the lowest he had ever done, made worse by Zack's treatment of him over the years, he thought of Maddie, his beautiful Maddie, the girl he had always known he would fall in love with...imagining her lips on his again, her arm around his neck...

Sighing and looking at the ocean, he made up his mind and went to the right person.

XX

Moseby pondered what to do. He knew where Zack would go. But...

Then the idea came to him, and he grinned.

"Emma, I have a cunning plan." He said cheerily after calling Tutweiller.

XX

Zack entered Cody's room to see his brother sitting with his arms around his legs, a miserable expression on his face. Zack sat down beside him on the pillow and was glad that Cody just leaned his head onto Zack's shoulder. Zack kissed his brother's forehead softly and hugged his brother to him. Cody didn't cry, he just laid against his brother with his eyes closed, looking miserable. Zack nuzzled him, like their mother had used to do when they were little.

"It'll be ok Cody." He whispered.

"I just don't get it Zack. Why would she leave? And without...without saying goodbye to any of us? Did I make her hate me that much, that she couldn't wait to get away from here?" Cody asked, the tears that weren't in his eyes coming into his voice.

Zack looked at his brother sadly.

"No little guy, you didn't make her hate you that much. If anything, she loved you that much so she ran off before she could see you and stop her going." He said softly.

Cody sniffed sadly, not knowing whether to believe it.

"Look Cody..."

Cody cut across him.

"It's my fault she left Zack. I just should have left her alone. You were right. I'm useless with girls, she never should have fallen in love with me. She deserves better than me, she always did. She probably just went out with me to make me feel better. You should have gone out with her instead like you wanted to. She deserves someone better than me, not the little cry baby she fell for."

Zack looked at Cody hopelessly. His self esteem was that low? Gently, Zack tilted Cody's head up to face him and he looked right into his brother's eyes, tears forming in his own eyes.

"Cody, I want you to listen to me ok? It isn't your fault that she left ok baby brother? Yeah, your breakup did influence her, but she made up her own mind to leave ok? It wasn't you. And I'm not right. All the horrible stuff I say to you to try and put you down...none of it's true ok little guy? I'm just a mean big brother when I say those things to you. All this time, I didn't have a clue how badly I was hurting you by saying all that. And I'm so sorry Cody. And trust me, Bailey doesn't deserve better than you because you are the best person in the entire world. And she does love you, I know she does. And you are not a cry baby. You're sensitive, yeah, but you're not a cry baby. No one can blame you for how you've both been acting the last few days, crying and stuff. You two are made for each other. You aren't weak, you aren't pathetic. You are the best person I know, and I'm completely horrible to you sometimes. And I really wish I hadn't been. I am so sorry for how bad I've been making you feel without noticing. I'm so sorry Cody." Zack said tearfully.

Cody looked up at him in surprise.

"Zack..." he said softly, and despite how bad he felt, seeing his brother upset made him wrap his arms around him and cuddle him.

"Hey...what you cuddling me for? You're the one in a state!" Zack said, though didn't break out of the embrace.

"You've never said any of that stuff to me before." Cody said softly.

"Well I should have ok? I'm so sorry Cody." He said, brushing Cody's hair with his fingers.

"Oh...it's ok. It's my fault, I'm just feeling so..."

But what he was feeling he didn't have to say as Zack just held him tightly.

"I love you Zack." Cody said, feeling happier in his brother's arms.

"I love you too Cody. And I'm not going to be mean to you anymore ok?"

Cody looked at his brother, and for the first time ever, he actually believed that his brother wasn't going to upset him anymore.

"Ok." He said, and the two laid together, Zack with his arm protectively around Cody, stroking his hair while his brother was curled up next to him.

"I just don't get why she would leave without saying goodbye." Cody said sadly.

"I know Cody." Zack said softly, leaning his head against his brothers.

"I miss her." Cody admitted tearfully.

The pain in his voice made Zack's own tears well up, and he sniffed, trying to hide them.

"I know." He said, and Cody snuggled into him more tightly.

XX

"Madeline!" Moseby called.

Miss Tutweiller had been suitably impressed by this plan, because as Zack was busy looking after Cody he wasn't paying much attention to Maddie, even though he wanted to. Moseby was prouder of him than he could say. He had wondered at first whether Zack would be his usual self and just ignore how miserable Cody felt, but he had soon been proved wrong and he was glad of that. But, Cody had come to him yesterday, before Bailey had left and had basically finished the poor boy off, and had asked for his help in getting Zack and Maddie together. And, due to the fact that he and Miss Tutweiller were quite enjoying meddling with their love lives (even if they hadn't had much success), he had agreed and come up with his plan.

"Hey Moseby, what's up?" Maddie asked, sipping a Banana Fofana.

"Well Maddie, I'd like to ask you a favour. But first, when do you go back to college?" he asked.

"About a month, we're on summer break, why?" she asked curiously.

"Well the thing is my lounge singer has jumped ship, and he was scheduled for two weeks. So I was hoping that you might fill in the position...?" Moseby asked innocently.

Maddie looked at him searchingly. Yes, it would give her an extra two weeks on the ship, and because Bailey had left, London had her staying in with her, so that wasn't a problem. But, she still had the Tipton to worry about.

"Mr Moseby, I'd be happy to, but the Tipton..."

"You forget I'm still technically the boss there too, it's all sorted. So you'll do it?" he asked hopefully.

Maddie pondered, and looked to where Zack had wrapped his arm around her a little while ago. An extra two weeks with Zack present...? That was a no brainer.

"Then I'd be happy to." She said brightly.

"Good, I'm glad! Well you're on tonight at nine o'clock, so I'd get a song ready if I were you. Oh it'll be just like old times!" he said excitedly, and headed off.

That was that. Cody would be pleased, well he would be once Zack cheered him up. All was going well...aside from the fact that Cody and Bailey weren't together. But, it was a work in progress.

XX

"So Maddie's staying a bit longer?" Marcus asked as he and London sat in the buffet hall, having lunch.

"Yeah, she's staying to do the singing, Moseby conned her into it. But we both know why she's really staying." London said conspirationally.

"Yeah, Zack." Marcus said with a grin.

London looked at him in surprise.

"I thought she was just staying because she got a comfortable bed here rather than a poor people's one." She said, and Marcus rolled his eyes.

"Well maybe, but she's also staying because she likes Zack...likes him a lot."

London looked unsure.

"But he always seemed to just make her laugh at him at the Tipton." She said worriedly.

"Yeah, but now he's older, and she reckons he's cuter too. I reckon she's fallen for him." Marcus said.

"Maybe. But I hope the same thing doesn't happen with them as it did with Cody and Bailey. We can only deal with one broken up twin at a time." London said.

Marcus nodded.

"Agreed. But do you want to go and see Maddie's show tonight?" he asked.

"Yeah. Trust me, she can't be any worse than Carey!" London said eating her salad.

"Carey?"

"Zack and Cody's mother. Boy she can murder a letter!"

Marcus thought he was missing something and looked at his heiress.

"What?"

"You know, in a song! A letter!" she said earnestly.

"You mean a note?" Marcus asked incredulously.

"That's it."

Marcus smiled and shook his head. She might be as dumb as a post...but she was with him. Grinning, he helped himself to some more salad dressing.

XX

The ship docked in Port el Kantoui of Tunisia, and all the people who were going ashore did so. Cody looked out at the gleaming bright sunlight, which was so totally opposite from his mood. He had lost Bailey, and that was like having a massive chunk torn out of his heart. He didn't know what hurt more: the fact that she had left or the fact the she had done so without saying goodbye. He just wanted to see her again. He hadn't seen her in days, and already it seemed like she was fading from his memory. He missed her so much...but no matter how he thought of it he couldn't see any way for the two of them to ever work things out between them so they could at least be friends again. He had lost her totally, and that fact made him feel all the more miserable.

He just wished he could talk to her again, see her...but she had gone, leaving a massive void in his heart.

"Hello Cody." Moseby said, coming up next to him.

"Hey Mr Moseby." He said in a defeated voice.

"It will get better." Moseby said gently.

"It's just...how she left that hurts the most. I just wanted to talk to her, and she had gone before I could even tell her how much I still loved her."

Moseby looked at Cody sadly. That was what made the entire thing all the more upsetting: the fact that both Cody and Bailey still loved each other so much, they had just thought that staying apart would be better for them so as not to cause them any more pain.

"I know she still loves you Cody." Moseby said quietly.

"Got a funny way of showing it then doesn't she." He said miserably.

Moseby couldn't think of what to say to this, but he knew in his heart that Cody and Bailey still adored each other. But as they were now on opposite sides of the world, it would make reuniting them even more difficult.

"Thanks Mr Moseby." Cody said after a while.

"For what Cody?" Moseby asked curiously.

"Convincing Maddie to stay a bit longer. Zack's been so busy looking after me that he hasn't spent any time with her, and I know how much he wants to." Cody said, and Moseby grinned.

"Indeed. Well it just so happens Miss Tutweiller and I have a plan in the works..." he said slyly, and Cody leaned in to hear what he had to say.

XX

Bailey's mother sighed and passed her daughter another tissue. Ever since she had arrived home out of nowhere, with no warning or anything, her poor little girl had been crying her eyes out over Cody, the boy she had been going out with for the last year. Now, being her mother, it was clear to her that Bailey was still hopelessly in love with Cody and that she had made a mistake coming home to try and forget about him, because if anything she just seemed to miss him more.

"Bailey dear, why not just call him and talk to him?" she suggested gently.

"There's no point...he's with Maddie!" Bailey wailed.

"Who's Maddie?" her mother asked in confusion.

"The girl Cody's brother likes!" Bailey wailed, and slumped onto her mother's shoulder and cried all the harder.

"Why did I even ask?" she asked herself, very confused as to what was going on.

XX

Moose, Bailey's ex, was standing outside her house, contemplating going in to see her. Her unexpected reappearance early this morning had gotten the entire town buzzing, and he knew that it had to do with the little blond dude who had organised the Mulch Festival for her.

Now, he knew. The two of them had apparently been dating for a year, and as much as he could gather from Bailey's heartbroken sobs, they had broken up and now he was making a move on his brother's girl.

But, from the way Bailey seemed to be taking all this, a small part of her didn't believe it. And what was more...she still seemed to love Cody. Which...could be a pain if he decided he wanted Bailey back. Because Moose knew now that he shouldn't have taken no for an answer and should have taken her back to Kettlecorn. And now she was back, and he wouldn't let her go back. Only he knew what was best for her, and the way she was at the moment she would only hurt herself more. So, steps had to be taken to make sure this Cody didn't come and try to take his little bale of hay away from him a second time.

And, if Bailey thought he was making a move on a girl his brother liked...so much the better.

XX

"Cody, what's the hurry?" Zack asked as his brother dragged him to the lounge, where the night acts usually performed.

"There's a show on I reckon you ought to see." Cody said.

"Cody, are you sure you're up for a show? Aren't you meant to be still upset over Bailey?" Zack asked worriedly.

Cody looked at him. He knew he hadn't meant it to sound like that, but still...

"Of course I'm still upset over Bailey, but this about you, not me." Cody said and resumed his course.

Zack looked at him in shock. Cody, despite how miserable he felt, was still trying to make sure he had a good time. Aww...

Smiling slightly, he ran after his brother.

"What is this show?" Zack asked, catching up to Cody, whose slightly longer legs gave him an advantage.

"You'll see." Cody said with a soft smile, and he shoved Zack into the room.

The first thing he saw was Moseby and Tutweiller sitting at the bar with cocktails, sipping them and chatting happily. Marcus and London were sitting at a table with subdued lighting and were holding hands, and Woody and Addison were sitting having a peanut eating contest.

"I don't see anything." Zack said uncertainly, wondering what Cody thought he would find good. Sure, there were a couple of cute girls, but he only had one on his mind at the moment...

"Give it a sec." Cody scolded lightly.

Moseby then got up, and smiling broadly at the people assembled in the room, he picked up his microphone.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Triton lounge, and please put your hands together to give a very warm welcome for our new singer, Madeline Fitzpatrick!" Moseby cried.

"What?" Zack demanded as people applauded.

"She's a singer here until she goes back to college. Boy, are you behind." Cody said with a smile, which buoyed Zack's heart even higher than his statement just had.

Maddie then came onto the stage, clad in a close fitting shimmering blue dress, and Zack's heart caught in his throat. Maddie looked gorgeous up there. Her eyes scanned the room, and when she saw Zack, her smile lit up the stage, and she began to sing a cover of Robbie Williams' 'Man For All Seasons'.

Zack sat as though entranced as the girl he loved sang, her eyes casually looking at him every now and again and making his heart stick in his throat.

"You're drooling." Cody said with a soft, amused voice, and Zack shut his mouth but still couldn't take his eyes off of her.

Maddie finished the song, and the entire room erupted into applause, but her eyes sought only one person, and sure enough, she saw him, on his feet clapping louder than the rest, and she gave him a radiant smile.

"Thank you Madeline!" Moseby called from the sides, and she dashed down the stairs to Zack, who wrapped his arms around her tightly and swept her around, her feet coming off the ground as she did so.

"Wow Maddie, you were fantastic!" he said breathlessly.

"Thanks Zack, I didn't think you were coming." She said, looking slightly concerned.

"Oh we were, he was just a bit more resistant than I thought he would be." Cody said, smiling slightly.

"Well thanks for coming, you really helped." Maddie said brightly.

"You didn't need any." Zack said hesitantly, and she edged a bit closer, but then London came over to congratulate Maddie.

"Thanks bro." Zack said, smiling at his brother, who smiled back and let Zack pull him into a hug.

"You're welcome. Told you you'd like it." Cody said.

Maddie broke away from some of her well wishers, and Marcus and London grinned at Cody, as Marcus linked arms with her and they headed off. Maddie came back over to them, and hugged them both.

"Thanks for coming guys." She said happily.

"Are you staying longer then?" Zack asked excitedly, and Cody couldn't quite suppress a grin.

"Yeah, until I go back to college." Maddie said, and Cody sort of melted away, leaving the two of them alone.

"That's...that's good! It means we, I mean I, I mean you..." Zack said, stuttering, and Maddie went close to him and kissed him.

Zack was surprised, but he quickly made up for it and gently wrapped his arms around her waist and brought her closer to him, and her arms curled around his neck, allowing him no escape from the kiss. They broke off slowly, and Zack grinned at her feebly.

"Wow." He said breathlessly.

"Wow yourself." She said.

Over at the bar, Cody sat looking at his brother happily. At least he could be with the girl he loved even if he couldn't.

"Oh Cody, it'll get better." Tutweiller said encouragingly.

"Cheer up Cody..." Moseby said, wondering if he should look the other way just this once and give the lad a pick me up.

"I'm alright. Thanks for helping me with this guys." He said, and headed off, meanwhile Zack was still kissing Maddie.

"Oh dear." Tutweiller sighed as they watched him disappear.

"Thanks Zack." Maddie said with a radiant smile as they broke off.

"You're welcome." Zack said with a small grin and kissed her again, her arms wrapping back around his neck.

"So..." she said leadingly as they broke off.

"So...you wanna go out with me then?" Zack asked playfully, and she grinned.

"Yeah I suppose so." She said happily.

"Then my dear, I shall escort you to your cabin." Zack said, and linked arms with her and the two headed off.

"Well, at least one of them's happy." Tutweiller lamented.

"Ooh, imagine...now that he's going to be going out with Maddie he can't play as many pranks!" Moseby said excitedly, patting his head with his pocket hanky in his excitement.

Miss Tutweiller smiled, and then there was a loud bang, causing several large bubbles to start coming out of the taps.

"ZACK!" Moseby yelled, ripping apart his hanky and making Tutweiller laugh.

XX

Zack escorted Maddie to her room, and after a long kiss goodnight, he headed to his own room, feeling the happiest he had ever felt. Cody, despite how miserable he had felt, had still managed to help bring him and Maddie together, something he had desired for years, and even more so over the last few days. He really was lucky to have Cody as a brother. Not that he'd tell him that...

Zack couldn't believe it. He was finally with the girl that he loved...he was with Maddie. After years of promising her that he would be the one who she would end up with, now he finally was. The thought of him being the only one who could kiss her, the only guy for her, made him grin goofily, sort of like the one Cody had had when he had gotten a hug of Bailey before they had started dating. Him and Maddie...they were a couple. It was the best feeling in the world.

As he entered his room, his heart roaring in triumph, joy and thanks at Cody and Moseby, his pocket vibrated.

"Hey, we've only just started dating..." he said to himself, then took out his phone.

And as he read the text, his world fell apart.

_Dear Zach,_

_I just thought you ought to know that Cody...Cody likes Maddy too. Just thought you should know that he's been lieing to you, and to me._

_Sorry_

_Bailey xx_

Zack looked at the text, and his world went red. Cody, after everything he had done for him in the last few days, was making a move on _his _girl? It didn't seem possible...though it would explain why he had been so happy and teasing earlier. Cody was making a move on _his _Maddie!

And with that, Zack furiously began to plot revenge.

**Hello again!**

**Apologies for this chapter being shorter than the last two, but I asked my flatmate and he said I should leave it at a cliffhanger, so blame him!**

**So, Maddie and Zack are finally together! But, the text from Bailey could ruin everything. But I will say something (it's spelt wrong for a reason!)**

**I know this isnt so good, but things begin to heat up next chapter, trust me! Someone is slapped, a fight is fought, truths are revealed and realisations reached! And by the way, creating a cliffhanger gives us an extra chapter, which I hope you think is a good thing!**

**So hope you enjoy, despite it ending a bit abruptly and not being so good, and please read and review until next time!**

**P.S I want more Suite Life episodes, I'm all up to date now! (But some have given me ideas for one shots)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own Suite Life (or Cody and Bailey would already be back together!)**

Recovery

The ship left the port the next morning, heading out of the Mediterranean and making towards Mexico. Cody was just about to go out when Woody stumped in, white paint covering him.

"What the heck happened to you?" Cody demanded.

"I don't know...I opened the door and everything went black!" Woody wailed, white paint covering his glasses.

"Um, I think you mean white." Cody said, and sidestepped his paint covered roommate, leaving him spluttering inside.

XX

"Good morning." Maddie said happily as Zack came out onto the sky deck, looking vaguely triumphant.

"It is now." He said and kissed her fiercely.

"Well someone's cheery...Zack?" Maddie asked, as Zack seemed to be looking off into the distance.

"Sorry sweetie. I'll see you later ok?" he said, and kissed her again before disappearing.

Maddie looked at his retreating back, slightly bemused. Something had obviously upset him, or at least annoyed him. It was only a question of what.

XX

Cody smiled as he saw his brother coming down the corridor towards him.

"Hey Zack." Cody said brightly, but Zack then shouldered into him, making Cody stagger and stumble against the wall, and Zack stomped off, looking surly.

"'Why good morning Cody, how are you?' I'm fine thanks." Cody grumbled, wondering what was eating Zack.

XX

Miss Tutweiller sighed as she handed back the last of the essays she had been marking. No an A in the bunch. Cody had handed his in the day before, and tear blotches aside, it still wasn't up to his usual standard of work, barely earning him a B+.

"Well class, today I would like you to work in pairs in order to complete the assignment on your desks please. And please try to get it done today, so I can send it off and boast to the other teachers that Fuddy Duddy Tutty can deliver on time!" she cried, earning her some stupefied glances from her students.

"Eh, get on with your work please!" she called hopefully, trying to make them forget her outburst.

Marcus went off to work with London, and because Bailey had left, Cody, Woody (mercifully returned to normal after about an hour in the shower) and Zack formed a three.

"So, what were the reasons that Germany was hit hardest by the Great Depression?" Woody asked.

"Well, because of the Ruhr Crisis, the American loans getting recalled..." Cody began.

"Oh, why do you always have to be such a know it all?" Zack asked grumpily.

Cody sent him a reproachful look and went quiet. Woody looked at Zack in surprise, wondering why he was being mean to Cody...especially because even on his worst day Cody knew more about this stuff than the rest of the class put together, especially now Bailey had gone.

"Fine, you do it then." Cody said in a quiet voice, wrote down the two points on the poster had had said and left it alone, leaving Woody to sit in between the two brothers, the air colder than the ship's man sized freezer.

At the end of the lesson, a hurt and bewildered Cody, who had no idea why Zack was being so horrible to him, fled the room, looking on the verge of tears. After that, when Cody had gently whispered some more answers to a perplexed Woody, Zack had done a horrible impression of him jumping up and down in his seat, begging to answer a question. Cody had shut up, making the task even harder and had just earned glares or growls from Zack every time he asked what was wrong. After a while, fed up and hurt, he had given up and had spent the rest of the period looking out of the window, his lip sometimes shaking.

Miss Tutweiller looked down at their poster contemplatively. That had just been odd. The last few days, Zack had been a model brother to Cody. But that, even if he was fed up of being there for Cody, especially as he now had Maddie, that had just been extreme. It was all she could do not to split them up, but she had a feeling that might have made things worse for Cody.

"Yoohoo, Emma, I'm talking to you!" Moseby called and she shook herself out of her reverie.

"Sorry Marion." She said, still pondering what had happened.

"What's wrong?" he asked her in concern.

"Zack. He was being absolutely horrible to Cody, and Cody left here looking like he was on the verge of tears the poor boy. I just don't get why Zack's suddenly done such a one eighty on him." She said sadly.

Moseby looked at her, pondering. Yes, even if Zack was more interested in Maddie than in Cody, that wouldn't justify him being horrible to Cody, especially as over the last few days he had been very supportive of his brother. So what was going on?

"Come on, let's go to lunch and put our heads together." He said, and she gave him a coy smile.

"What part of our heads?" she asked teasingly, and Moseby flashed her a wicked grin.

XX

Zack continued to be horrible to Cody in his next class, flicking bits of rubber at him and making crying impressions, and simulating holding something which they took to be Cody's blanket. Cody was determinedly ignoring this, but his eyes were welling up with tears. London was shooting Zack dirty looks, but Zack continued to harass Cody, and as such, Cody asked to go the toilet and didn't come back. Zack then escaped before his friends could stop him.

"What the hell is his problem? Why's he being so mean to Cody?" Woody demanded.

"I don't know. It's not as if Cody's going to fight back either because he's so miserable! He's being a royal jerk." London said irritably, furious that Zack was being so horrible to Cody.

Marcus however was silent. He was beginning to get a feeling that he knew why Zack was being horrible to Cody. Actually, if he was right, a lot of things would make a lot more sense.

"Well he better not be mean to Cody again. Cody's never left a class early before. He's got enough to deal with because of Bailey." Woody said sadly.

Marcus nodded absently. He had a suspicion Bailey was the cause of all this, willing or not. Something was off.

"I need to go and talk to Moseby, see you later." He said, kissing London's cheek.

"You reckon he understands something?" Woody asked.

"More than I do at any rate." London said with a sigh, and Woody snorted.

XX

Cody mopped his eyes. What had he done to upset Zack? He couldn't think of anything, yet Zack was being completely horrible to him. Was it because Cody had been crying so much over the last few days? Was Zack finally fed up of looking after Cody was being horrible to get back into the swing of things? Or was it what Cody had always suspected all along and that Zack hadn't meant any of the stuff he had said and was now just going back to normal with extra venom?

"Hey Cody." Woody said meekly as he entered.

"Hey Woody." He said miserably.

"I brought your stuff." Woody said, handing Cody his bag.

"Thanks." Cody said, setting it down on his bed, wishing he knew what he had done to make his brother be so horrible to him.

"I thought you said Zack promised not to be horrible to you anymore?" he asked.

"Yeah, he did. And I believed him. More fool me I guess then, huh?" Cody said and opened the door.

And a custard pie flew off a small catapult and hit him in the face.

"Ooh, pie." Woody said greedily, and Cody fought back a sob.

Why was Zack being so horrible?

XX

Marcus finally tracked Moseby and Tutweiller down in a restaurant, where they were sharing a plate of spaghetti. He grinned. People were already beginning to say that the two of them had rekindled their romance, and re-enacting Lady and the Tramp wasn't going to do them any favours.

"People are talking about you two you know." He said as he came up to them.

"Talking about what?" Moseby demanded.

"That you two are dating." He said with a grin.

The two of them turned to look at him in outrage.

"We are not dating!" Tutweiller protested.

"We are simply two friends enjoying a quiet lunch." Moseby said with dignity.

"With only one dish?" Marcus asked with a sceptical grin.

They looked at each other then Moseby turned back to Marcus.

"We're cheap." He said with some finality, and Marcus smiled.

"You certainly are that." He said under his breath, while Tutweiller looked off into the distance.

"Well I suppose we could be dating if you wanted to be." She stated idly.

"Well do you want to date?" Moseby asked with interest.

Marcus sighed, seeing where this was going.

"Waiter, I'll have a salad." He said in exasperation.

Twenty minutes later, Marcus had consumed his Caesar salad and had finished a bowl of ice cream and Moseby and Tutweiller were still debating whether or not to be a couple.

"So you want to be a couple?" Moseby asked.

"Yes, but only if you want to be!" Tutweiller said uncertainly, and Moseby smiled.

"Then we're a couple then." He said brightly, and she smiled at him, making Marcus roll his eyes.

"So what can we do for you Marcus?" Tutweiller asked, turning her attention back to her student.

"Well, as you two are the ones she told that she was leaving, I'm assuming you know why Bailey really left?" he asked bluntly, not wanting to be delayed any longer.

Moseby exchanged a guarder look with Tutweiller, who gave nothing away as she turned to face him.

"We have a suspicion yes." She confirmed hesitantly.

"Is it to do with some fiction about Cody and Maddie?" he asked, and Moseby nodded grimly.

"We think so. We're afraid Bailey saw Cody with Maddie and automatically assumed the worst, she was already so distraught over the breakup. So she got the wrong end of the stick, sprung it on us that she was going and disappeared."

Marcus pondered. He had thought as much. And, if Zack had somehow found this out, it would explain why he had been so horrible to Cody, fearing that his brother would somehow make a move on Maddie, and Marcus supposed that Zack probably feared that because of how much of a state Cody had been in, he would win Maddie on the sympathy vote.

"But why is it suddenly so important to find out?" Tutweiller asked.

"I reckon Zack found out somehow...and that's why he's been so horrible to Cody today."

Moseby groaned.

"Oh for goodness sake..." he cursed, getting up.

"Look, I don't think we should interfere." Marcus said hesitantly.

"Marcus, don't you think Cody has enough problems without Zack picking on him for something he hasn't even one?" Tutweiller wailed, and he had to admit, she did have a point.

And what was more, Zack wasn't doing his usual big brother teasing, he was outright bullying Cody, and to make matters worse Cody didn't have a clue what he had done to deserve it. So, maybe an intervention was in order.

"Oh alright, but I have a bad feeling about this." Marcus said darkly and he followed the two from the restaurant.

XX

Cody sighed resentfully as yet another tightly bundled towel hit him in the head. Someone was putting all sorts of disgusting stuff inside them, like mouldy sandwiches and all sorts, and it was making Cody feel sick. And the unkind sniggers from the juice bar gave him some idea as to who was behind it.

What had he done to make Zack be so horrible to him? Maybe Cody had been stupid to assume that Zack really did want to change the way he treated Cody. Perhaps he had just told Cody to that to make him feel all the worse when he finally went after him.

Sitting on a deck chair, London was keeping an eye on Cody. Zack had reached new levels of jerkocity with his brother, that much was clear. Yeah, he had always picked on him a little bit, but he was Cody's big brother. But this wasn't picking on him this was just outright bullying, and she didn't like it one bit. And nor did she like the malicious evil looks Zack was sending Cody either, as if plotting something he knew full well would hurt his brother. London didn't know what his problem was, but she knew Maddie wouldn't look well on it no matter what it was. And she didn't either. While she didn't normally go for this 'helping people' thing, she didn't want to see Cody any more depressed than he already was. As such, to prevent her from just going over and yelling at Zack, she was stroking the large bar of gold, her allowance for the week, that she had in her purse.

Zack was looking over at Cody, willing him to pick up the next towel. A small part of him, alright, a large part, knew that he shouldn't be so mean to Cody. But after all, Cody had been taking advantage of the fact that Zack, for the first time in his life, had been nice to his brother, and was using it to try and get with the girl that _he _was in love with! But...he couldn't quite shake the feeling that something was wrong with Bailey's text. Shaking the feeling, he eagerly awaited seeing Cody's face when he unrolled the next towel...and tried to ignore the massive lump of guilt forming in his throat.

Cody picked up another balled up towel, and his heart caught in his throat as he unravelled it. Bailey, in a small frame, was staring up at him from a photograph. Cody's hands shook and he squeezed harder, breaking the glass, and as he did so, his grip slid, and a jagged shard of glass ripped a thin slash in his wrist.

"OW!" he squealed in pain, dropping the rest, and London came tottering over, looking concerned.

"Cody, what happened?"

Cody showed her the cut, which now had blood pouring from it, and Cody suppressed a wince figuring that it was in exactly the place it would be if he had practiced self harm. Wonderful.

"Someone put a picture of Bailey in a towel, and I sort of shook...it was an accident." Cody said meekly, not really sure why he was trying to explain his brother's actions.

Because it could only have been Zack who had done it. Zack was now just torturing him. Why was he being so horrible? Yeah, he was better than he had been, but still, there was teasing, and there was bullying, and Zack was kicking him whilst he was still down. Tears formed in his eyes as Cody struggled to understand why Zack was being so horrible to him. He supposed he couldn't trust his brother after all.

"Do you know who did this?" she asked, though she knew full well.

"No." He said loyally, then turned and dashed for the infirmary, tears rolling down his cheeks as the fact that his brother was deliberately hurting him set in.

London burled around furiously towards the juice bar. Zack was looking guiltily and worriedly at where his brother had disappeared from view. He hadn't wanted to physically hurt him, but now his wrist was bleeding, and he had a horrible feeling people would start to ask if he had been self harming. Just as he was about to go after Cody, a furious London blocked his path.

"What the hell is your problem?" she demanded furiously.

"London, please move, Cody's hurt..." shame and guilt filling his voice as he begged her.

"Yeah, he's hurt because of you! What, you think that just because you're going out with Maddie you can start being an absolute jerk to him?" she demanded.

"London, I'll explain later, you don't understand." Zack said, but she narrowed her eyes.

"Yeah I do. You've been horrible to him all day!" she yelled, furious for her friend.

Poor Cody had enough problems, being poor was one of them, without his brother making him feel terrible.

"London, I...I've got my reasons..." Zack said uncertainly, but then London's eyes flashed furiously.

"Nothing justifies how you've been treating him today you bloody little poor person!" she screeched, and swung her bag, containing the gold bar, at him, and smacked him in the head.

Zack's eyes widened with the impact.

"Here we go..." he said, and promptly collapsed to the ground in a heap, with London seething furiously above him.

"London!" Marcus cried in shock as he came rushing down the stairs, Moseby and Tutweiller in tow, and he took her arm and dragged her away from Zack.

"Let go Marcus! Now come with me!" she said furiously, and stomped off towards the cabins.

"Yes dear." He said meekly, and hurried along in her wake.

"What was that about?" Tutweiller demanded as they lifted an unconscious Zack into a chair.

"I don't know, but I reckon London must have her allowance for the week in that bag." Moseby said, wincing at the sight of the large bruise now rising on Zack's temple.

"Oh yes..."

XX

London was the angriest Marcus had ever seen her and she blasted open the door to her cabin, stomping in and looking around furiously.

"Um, London...?" he asked hesitantly.

"Zack is being completely foul to Cody! And I bet it's something to do with Bailey. So I'm going to phone her and ask her why the hell she's set Zack onto Cody, he's got enough to deal with!" she fumed, punching for Bailey's number on her phone.

"London, wait!" he said and grabbed her arms, forcing them down and looking into her ire ridden brown eyes.

He knew that she did have a soft spot for all her friends, even if she didn't like to admit to it, and this was just further proof of it.

"What? You know Zack's been horrible to Cody!"

"Yeah, and I reckon you're right and it has to do with Bailey...but I reckon something isn't quite right with this. I'll talk to Zack later ok? And besides, bringing Bailey back or trying to get her to come back might just make things worse, for her and for Cody. He's barely getting over her as it is and I reckon she's the same. So, even though I know you're trying to be nice, and Cody might thank you for smacking Zack like he deserves, but just cool your jets ok?" he said softly.

And then she surprised him by kissing him on the lips. Marcus eagerly reciprocated and after a few seconds, minutes, hours or maybe even days they broke apart.

"Thank you." She said sweetly.

"Thank you too." He said with a surprised grin.

London smiled and looked out at the sea, wondering what to do about the entire situation. Marcus wrapped his arm around her and wondered the same thing.

XX

"Aww Bailey, please cheer up!" Moose begged.

Bailey looked at him. For the last few days, Moose had been bringing her stuffed animals and chocolates to try and cheer her up. And she had to admit, it was nice to see him again.

"Thanks Moose. You've been a good friend." She said, patting his hand as she put his cuddly chick next to a Beary-Sorry Bear she had once gotten from Cody, and she looked away from it before she started to cry again.

"Bailey, I hate seeing you this miserable. If that guy was stupid enough to dump you, and then move onto someone else no less like you say he has, then he doesn't deserve you being so upset over him." Moose said plainly.

Bailey sniffed. That was the problem though. The more she thought about it, the more she thought that she might have made a mistake saying that Cody and Maddie were getting together. Moose certainly hadn't dropped the subject every time he came to cheer her up, but somehow the fact that he didn't know their names was making it all the more plain to her that she might have gotten it wrong. She had been hurt, upset and still reeling from the breakup when she had seen Cody talking to Maddie and she had automatically assumed the worst. And after all, wasn't that what had broken them up in the first place, them assuming the worst of each other?

"Maybe. Thanks Moose." She said, and hugged him.

Moose's heart roared in triumph. Now he could get her back. Everything was going according to plan.

"Bails, do you want to go and see a movie at the weekend?" he asked hesitantly.

Bailey sighed. Here it was. She had suspected he had more than friendship on his mind. She had suspected that as soon as he had come, worried about her and bearing a cuddly pig. Now she knew. He wanted her back. But...even if she did decide to give him another chance, which she didn't think would be a wise idea at the moment anyway...it wouldn't be fair on him. Because there was only one guy she was thinking of at the moment and that guy definitely wasn't Moose.

To give herself more time, she excused herself to go to the toilet. As she went through, she knew she shouldn't even be friends with Moose now that she had confirmed what he really wanted. But he was some company for her, and she was really missing her friends and the ship. Would the ship take her back? But then she would be back where Cody was...she didn't know if she could stand it. In hindsight, she had made a mistake leaving the ship so suddenly, and she knew that Cody probably didn't feel anything like that for Maddie. For a start, he wouldn't do that to Zack. But...even though she wanted to, could she go back to the ship? She would be seeing Cody every day and the thought of seeing him and not being with him ripped her heart in two. But, a large part of her, despite how much pain it would cause her, wanted to see him every day. She missed him so much, like a flower misses the sun during winter...

Meanwhile, while Bailey's thoughts were consumed by thoughts of the boy she was still in love, Moose, still in her room looked down at her phone as she received a text.

_Hey Bailey,_

_Just thought I should tell you that Maddie and I are going out. And thanks for warning me about Cody liking her. But...he still really misses you._

_Zack xx_

Moose grinned. So, Zack had believed his little lie about Cody liking Maddie. So, provided Bailey never found out he had done it, he could get her back and turn her against her ex, who she clearly still had strong feelings for, for good. After all, he knew what was best for his little bale of hay.

"Hey Bailey, sorry, I deleted a text you got by accident." He said sheepishly, though of course there had been no accident about it.

"Oh, who was it from?" she asked.

"Zack I think it was."

Bailey looked at him curiously.

"What did he want?" she asked.

"To tell you that you don't need to go on about Cody anymore. He's going out with some girl called Maddie."

Bailey looked up at him in disbelief, and a part of him felt guilty at the lie, knowing it would upset her. But it would only prevent her from getting more hurt in the long run.

"Oh...oh right..." she said breathlessly, fighting the tears that were rising in her eyes.

Cody was dating Maddie. She didn't blame Maddie, her ex was cute, he was sweet, caring, kind, wasn't a player like his brother...but hadn't Maddie been interested in Zack? And he was into her...so why were Cody and Maddie dating? She looked at Moose, her tears starting to roll down her cheeks, and began to wonder if he was being honest with her. Maybe he'd gotten them mixed up. But either way, something wasn't quite right. But what if it was? What if Cody really had moved on?

"Alright." She said, with a sort of finality.

"Alright? I thought you still liked this guy?" Moose said in confusion.

Bailey looked at him. Something wasn't right about this. And she needed to find out what.

"No, as in alright, I'll go on a date with you." She said, smiling at him.

Moose grinned and hugged her. The heart wants what the heart wants. And as a result, she shifted guiltily in Moose's arms.

XX

Cody, after getting his arm stitched up, had hence spent the rest of the day avoiding Zack, and the others. As such, when it came time for Maddie's second show, he went early and hid in a shadowy booth, far away from the front of the stage where Zack would obviously be sitting. London and Marcus were back at their table, Marcus having his arm around London's shoulders, and Moseby and Tutweiller were sipping cocktails at the bar. When Zack entered and sat at the side of the stage, Cody retreated further into the shadows.

He just wished he knew why his brother was being so horrible. Before, he could deal with Bailey breaking up with him and leaving without saying anything because he had Zack on his side. But now, Zack was being horrible, he didn't have a clue why, and all he wanted was to go back to his room, curl up in a ball and cry. But he had promised Maddie he would be here, so he would stay and then go back to his room and hope that Zack would be nicer tomorrow.

Cody then looked at the cut on his wrist and snorted. No wonder Zack hated him. Like he had told him...he was pathetic. Stifling tears, he sipped his drink and looked up as Maddie came out onto the stage.

Zack smiled at her, and her heart soared as she began to sing a rendition of Don't Stop Believing by Journey. All through the song Zack couldn't keep his eyes off of her, his beautiful Maddie standing out there and singing better than his mother had ever managed. She looked at him with her eyes and he saw the light that was going through them and her radiant smile caught him and he looked up at her as she continued to sing.

Over in the corner, Cody felt the song could very well apply to him and Bailey, and the thought just tortured him even more.

As Maddie sung, she saw Cody lurking in the shadows, and she wondered what was wrong with him. She also wondered what had happened to Zack as he had a massive bruise on his forehead. Something had obviously been going on today when she had been otherwise occupied, and she didn't think she liked that. Something was wrong between the two of them. Over the last few days, Zack had hardly let Cody out of his sight, but now he didn't seem to be talking to him. So what was going on between the twins?

As she finished, she saw Zack whooping, and then wincing at the bruise on his head as he touched it. What the hell had been going on?

As the crowd dispersed, she saw Cody trying to get out, determinedly avoiding his brother. Deciding her boyfriend's brother needed her help more than her well wishers, she came down from the stage and blocked his path, while Zack looked around for her.

"Cody, what's wrong, you seem really miserable." She said as she reached him.

He certainly did look miserable. He looked like he was on the verge of tears. And her eyes widened in shock as she saw the bandage on his arm.

"Cody, what happened?" she asked in concern.

"Nothing, I just had an accident earlier." He said, not wanting to harm his brother's relationship with Maddie, because he knew she would be furious if she knew he had caused it.

"Cody, are you and Zack not talking? You seem even more down than the thing with Bailey, and you sat away from him earlier. Are you two ok?" she asked, and he shrugged.

"Yeah, same as usual. Night Maddie." He said sadly, and left the room, his head hung low, and she looked curiously after him. Something wasn't right between that two. Had the two of them had a fight and neither wanted to admit it? Strange, that's what it was.

And over on the other side of the room, Zack saw Cody with Maddie. They were just talking, but Bailey's text kept echoing in his head. Did Cody like Maddie? There was something odd about that. But, he had received a text from her saying that she had seen them together, and that was what had made her leave. It would actually explain an awful lot, why she had left so early, without so much as a word to them. But, hadn't Cody done his best to try and put him and Maddie together? His thoughts were so confused. Who did he want to believe? His brother, or his brother's broken hearted girlfriend? But, both sides could be true? Was Cody perhaps developing rebound feelings for Maddie? Or had Bailey gotten the wrong end of the stick again? He had to know, he had to find out...and he had to apologise for earlier.

As such, he headed after Cody, his face taut with worry.

London looked up as Zack left, following Cody.

"Oh no..." she moaned.

"What is it?" Marcus asked as he drained his cocktail.

"Zack's just gone after Cody, and I don't think he's going to apologise to him somehow." She said worriedly.

Marcus groaned and they got up to follow.

"Where are they off to in such a hurry?" Miss Tutweiller asked as she ate the grape from her glass.

"London looks angry...what if she's going to beat Zack up again?" Moseby asked worriedly.

While London had explained her attack on Zack, and a small part of Moseby had felt that the boy had thoroughly deserved it, he didn't deserve another round.

"Oh dear." She said, and they hurried after them.

XX

Zack finally caught up to his brother.

"Cody, we need to talk." He said, his emotions swirling inside him as he tried to decide whether or not Cody was trying to make a move on Maddie. It seemed impossible, but on the other hand it seemed perfectly natural.

Cody turned to glare at him.

"Oh, now you want to talk? Why now when you've been completely horrible all day? Run out of ideas?" he sneered, and Zack looked down in shame.

"Cody, I'm sorry, I didn't mean for you to get hurt..."

"Oh so putting in a picture of my ex girlfriend who I miss like crazy was meant to make me feel better was it?" Cody asked sarcastically.

At that moment, he hated everything about Zack. Despite his brother's promises, which he had been stupid enough to believe, he was still getting hurt, only now it was worse than before.

"Cody, will you please just calm down? I know I've been horrible but..."

"But you didn't want to be seen looking after your sappy brother anymore, don't worry Zack I get it. I was cramping your style so to convince everyone you're still a guy you were being deliberately horrible to me. I get it." Cody said and turned.

Zack took a step back. That's what Cody thought he was being horrible for? It didn't make any sense.

"Cody, wait, don't, I want to talk to you!" Zack said, catching Cody's wrist, and totally by accident, squeezing the cut.

And the next thing he knew Cody smacked him in the face. Zack staggered and hit the ground, then glared up at Cody.

"What the hell was that for?" he demanded furiously.

"You've been a complete bastard to me, just so you don't lose your precious reputation. What is it Zack, got your girl so you don't need me anymore? And you think _I'm _pathetic!"

Anger that Cody thought that was the truth surged through Zack and he leapt at his brother, his fist crashing into his gut. Ordinarily, he would have expected that to floor Cody, but not today. Today Cody just staggered back and slammed his foot into Zack's chin, knocking Zack to the floor. Zack snarled and tackled Cody to the floor, just as London, Marcus, Moseby, Tutweiller and Cody arrived.

"Boys, boys!" Tutweiller cried before she leapt backwards to avoid their flailing legs as they grappled on the floor.

"Oh this is terrible, someone should call security!" Kirby said as Cody kicked Zack off of him and went at him before Marcus and Moseby could pull him off.

Moseby, in the midst of preparing to pull Cody off of his brother, turned and looked at him incredulously.

"You are security!" he yelled.

"Oh yeah!"

They went down, but as they did so Zack rolled to his feet and kicked Cody in the chests. Cody thudded to the floor and took Zack's legs out from under him, then launched himself on top of his brother.

"Boys!" Moseby yelled desperately.

"You are a complete-jerk-you-don't-care-about-me!" Cody growled, punching his brother's chest.

Zack then managed to find some strength from somewhere and rolled Cody off him, pinning him to the floor.

"Of course I care about you! I love you! You've got it all wrong!"

Cody responded by kicking Zack in the gut and Cody then jumped on top of him again and started pounding, and no one seemed to want to intervene for fear of personal injury.

"Really?"

"I've been doing all that stuff because I thought you liked Maddie!" Zack yelled, and Cody's hand faltered.

Zack seized this chance and shoved Cody off of him and onto his back and pinned his arms.

"It's not what you think!" he pleaded desperately.

Cody then exerted himself and shoved Zack to the side, and then he pinned Zack with tears in his eyes.

"How could you think I was in love with Maddie? For a start, I've never thought about her that way and never will. Secondly, I wouldn't do that to you. You're my brother, and I love you. I wouldn't do that, knowing how you feel about her. And thirdly, I still love Bailey. I'm not going to get over her that quickly, if ever. I love her with all my heart, and any other girl doesn't even come close to her." Cody said, then he slid off of Zack and sat on the floor beside him, determinedly not looking at him.

Zack looked at his brother, terrible guilt flooding him. For a start, they had never ever fought like that before, when they would quite happily have beaten each other to a pulp. They had never done that. He shouldn't have punched Cody. Cody had been right to thump him, even if it was for the right reasons. But, hearing how hurt his brother really was, what he had thought Zack's reason was, had broken something in him, leading to the fight.

The others were all looking at them cautiously, as though afraid they might start fighting again at any moment, but Zack didn't care. His brother loved him that much...

Cody was avoiding Zack's eyes. He had thought that he had feelings for Maddie? That at least explained why he had been so horrible. Maddie was the only girl who could inspire jealousy in Zack. He had completely fallen for her from day one. He knew he shouldn't have punched Zack, and he had sort of known it had been an accident that he had squeezed the cut. But, a small part of him had wanted to smack him for so long, and after everything today...

"Cody?" Zack asked in a timid voice.

"Hm?"

"You should tell her that." Zack said gently, and Cody turned to look at him in confusion.

"What?"

"Tell Bailey what you just told me." He said softly.

Cody looked at his twin, and it was as if the others didn't exist as he looked at his brother.

"Zack...I'm sorry I hit you. I shouldn't have, I..."

Zack smiled a little hesitantly.

"Yeah well I sort of deserved it after everything I've done to you today. I shouldn't have attacked you, but hearing you think that..."

"Well what was I supposed to think? One minute you're being a cool big brother, helping me, next minute you're being completely horrible to me for no apparent reason. I thought you'd gotten fed up of looking after me, or that because you had Maddie you didn't want anything to do with me anymore." He said softly.

Zack reached out his hand, and he was immensely relieved when Cody took it.

"I'd never get fed up of you being my brother. And I will always want something to do with you." He said, and Cody gave him a small smile.

"I'm sorry for thinking you don't care about me." Cody whispered.

"No, I'm the one who should be sorry, I should have just asked you, talked to you..."

"No kidding." Cody said, totally ignoring Moseby's comment of 'damn right'.

Zack looked at Cody, unsure of what to say, and Cody gave him a small smile.

"You're an idiot." He said fondly.

"Yeah I know. You are too." He said playfully, lightly shoving him.

"I know. An idiot for putting up with you and still loving you. I love you Zack. You may be the biggest jerk brother on the planet, in the universe even...but you're my big jerk brother." Cody said with a smile, and Zack grinned and pulled him into a firm hug, closing his eyes as he did so.

"And you're my little nerdy brother and I love you too." He said, and smiled as Cody returned the hug.

"Aww, how sweet!" Tutweiller said, sniffing, and Moseby rolled his eyes.

The two boys then got to their feet, and turned sheepishly to the others.

"Sorry Mr Moseby." They said sheepishly.

Moseby smiled slightly, and shook his head.

"Well I always knew the day would come when the two of you would go at it. Thank god it was here and not at the Tipton." He said, and the twins grinned at each other, the usual grin they had when they had gotten into mischief, and she smiled.

"But it looks like London hitting Zack with a gold bar seems to have done the two of you some good." He said with as grin, and they nodded.

"Yeah, I gotta get one of them." Cody said, and Zack poked him on the shoulder ruefully.

"You can get one for graduation." London said.

Zack then went and hugged her.

"Thanks for smacking me London. I deserved it that time." He said, and she smiled.

"Yes you did. And you're welcome." She said, and then Cody hugged her too.

"Thanks for standing up for me." He said, and she smiled. Perhaps she should do this being nice thing more often, it felt good.

"You're welcome too." She said, and Marcus grinned. He knew she was nice when she wanted to be.

"Well I'm glad you two are back to normal." He said, clapping their shoulders.

"Yeah...can you guys do me a favour and sort of not tell Maddie?" Zack asked hopefully, and Cody laughed.

"We'll try. No more fighting ok?" Kirby asked sternly, and they nodded.

"Agreed." They said in unison.

"Good. Now Kirby, why don't you come back to the lounge with Emma and I while we have a little talk about what your job entails." Moseby said, patiently amused, and the three of them left.

"And so will we. Be good." Marcus said and he and London left, leaving the twins alone.

"Cody..."

"Zack..." he said at the same time, and they looked down awkwardly.

"We brothers again?" Zack asked hopefully.

"Always." Cody said with a smile, and Zack hugged his brother.

They walked for a while in silence, somehow feeling closer than ever. Then, the question that was burning to be asked finally came from Cody's mouth.

"Why would you think I was in love with Maddie?" he asked incredulously.

Zack looked uncertainly at Cody. He knew that while they had fixed the rift between them, he was still hurting from his breakup. Learning that Bailey had started this would kill him. But when he looked into his brother's eyes, pleading to know why his twin had done what he had done...he knew he couldn't refuse him.

"Oh bro...I'm sorry but it was Bailey." Zack admitted.

And then he saw clearly the pain blossoming in Cody's eyes. Zack looked at him sadly and wrapped an arm around him in case he started to cry.

"Bailey...but why...?"

Zack sighed.

"She sent me a text, telling me. I read it and lost it, I thought you were messing me about. And I'm so sorry Cody." He whispered into his brother's ear.

Cody couldn't believe it. Wasn't it bad enough that she had ripped his heart out when they had broken up, but then she had to take his brother away from him as well? She knew he was down, and she had wanted to make sure he was down and out. He never would have thought she'd be that spiteful and horrible.

But...she wasn't. Even with both of them acting out of character with the aftermath of their break up, Bailey would never do that. She always hated it when the twins fought anyway. So, even if she was mad at Cody, why would she hurt Zack with such a lie? Something didn't add up...

"Can I see the text?" he asked in a steady voice.

Zack saw something in Cody's eyes that hadn't been there for a while- fire. A righteous, furious fire, blazing with love for Bailey, and anger at something else. What was going on?

"Sure. Cody, what...?"

"Just show me the text." Cody commanded, and Zack did so.

And then he was surprised as Cody let out an animal snarl and nearly crushed his phone single handedly.

"That foul, lying, deceitful, manipulative bastard!" Cody roared and Zack took an alarmed step back.

"Cody what's wrong?" he asked urgently.

"Zack, look at this text. What's wrong with it?" Cody demanded, showing the message to Zack.

Zack shrugged.

"It's spelt wrong!" Cody said.

At first, these words didn't have the effect he sought. Despite what Cody thought, poor spelling wasn't a crime. But then, it dawned on him.

"Wait a second...Bailey's like you. She never spells anything wrong." Zack said suspiciously.

"Exactly! Zack, Bailey didn't send this! Someone used her phone to send it instead." Cody snarled, the angriest Zack had ever seen him.

"But...why...who?" Zack asked, but he had a suspicion Cody knew, and now he came to think of it, it could only be one person.

"Moose. That jumped up hillbilly! I know it's him!" Cody said and he punched Bailey's phone number into the phone.

The phone rang and rang and rang, Cody's expression furious. Zack too was furious. He had been hoodwinked into going after his own brother by his brother's girlfriend's ex.

"Hello?" Moose's voice answered.

"Hello Moose. Remember me? Cody? The one whose brother you got to go after him?" he said in a deadly voice, which Zack had to repress a shiver on hearing.

"You! Look, you lost Bailey! She's back where she belongs, here with me! You lost her, deal with it." Moose growled.

"Does she know you're lying to her? I'm not dating Maddie, and you know it. Zack is, and you sent that text to him to get him to come after me so I would be so miserable I wouldn't even think of going back for Bailey, especially if I thought she was the one behind it. Clever Moose. But not clever enough. You underestimated me and my brother. Bad move."

Moose growled on the other end of the phone.

"Look you, you're nothing to her now. She's going out with me again, so drop it. You and your precious brother can stay on the ship and leave my Bailey alone!"

Cody's eyes narrowed to slits.

"Bailey doesn't belong to anyone. And don't you dare think you're going to get away with this, because you won't. I can promise you that. Goodbye Moose." Cody said and hung up, looking murderous.

"Dude! He's lying to Bailey, making her think you've moved on! Is that the biggest telling off you've got for him? He's stealing your girl!" Zack protested, furious on his brother's behalf.

"Not if I have anything to say about it he isn't." Cody spat.

He then ran off, and Zack quickly followed.

"Cody...?" he asked, as they barged into the lounge, where the others, including Maddie, were sitting sipping drinks.

"I wondered when you'd show up." Maddie said, her face disapproving but amusement in her eyes.

"What you told her? You guys are mean." Zack pouted, and London and Tutweiller failed to look at him innocently.

"Cody, what's up, you look livid." Marcus said.

"Oh I am. Moose is lying to Bailey." He said.

"Who the heck is Moose?" Marcus asked, but Moseby held up a hand to silence him.

"What do you mean?" he asked curiously, the final pieces falling into place.

"Moose has been feeding Bailey a pack of lies, telling her I'm in love with Maddie. He then sent the text with Bailey's phone to Zack to make him come after me. His plan was that because I would have lost Bailey and Zack I would be so miserable I wouldn't pose a threat to his plans to get Bailey back. He was hoping that if Zack abandoned me as well I would never talk to Bailey again, especially if I figured out that she was the one who got Zack to fall out with me. He's lying to her to get her to forget about me, and she doesn't know what he's been doing, or how I still feel about her! He is lying through the skin of his teeth to her in some twisted attempt to keep her in Kettlecorn because he thinks he knows what is best for her! She doesn't know the truth and he keeps feeding her more and more lies!" Cody roared furiously.

"Wait, so you two's fallout was because Moose set it up? That's sick!" Maddie said in a horrified voice.

"Who the hell is Moose?" Marcus demanded.

"Goose is her ex-boyfriend. That's low, he's lying to her...but Bailey isn't dumb, she must know something's odd about all that..." London said.

"Not if he's been intercepting the texts I've been sending back to her she won't...boy Bailey is going to be pissed when she finds all of this out." Zack said darkly.

"So this is some twisted ploy by this Moose guy to get Bailey back?" Kirby demanded incredulously.

"Yes! He's lying to her to keep her in Kettlecorn...and away from me." Cody answered miserably.

"So what are we going to do about it? We just can't let this Moose keep deceiving Bailey!" Tutweiller said in shock.

"No we can't. So...I want to go to Kettlecorn." Cody said firmly.

They all looked at him in surprise. He was willing to go all the way to Kettlecorn to tell Bailey that Moose was lying to her...not knowing how she would react to his presence or even if she would believe him. Zack had once overhead Cody telling Bailey he would crawl to the ends of the earth to make her happy, but not until now did he see that his brother actually meant that. He was willing to risk everything, just to make sure the girl he loved didn't make a massive mistake and waste her life shucking corn when she could be doing so much more. He was willing to cross America just to tell her not to make a mistake with Moose, regardless of what she might say to him, regardless of how much more hurt he might have to endure.

"Cody..." Zack said softly.

Tutweiller looked at Moseby, a small smile tugging at her lips. Moseby smiled at her and nodded.

"Alright Cody. Very well. We're going to Kettlecorn!" he announced, and got his phone out of his pocket.

"What? You're taking the ship?" Cody asked weakly.

"Of course! You can't get there without it Cody. We're helping you. You're so sweet, willing to do all that just to let Bailey know how much she means to you...of course we'll help!" Tutweiller declared.

"But..." Cody said uncertainly.

"Cody, forget it. We're with you. We want Bailey back too. And I want to get that cowpat back for making me fall out with you. We're with you bro." Zack said firmly.

"Zack..." Cody said with a small but touched voice, and Zack grinned.

"We're all coming." Maddie said, her eyes fiery.

"You bet." Marcus agreed.

"And I have sort of missed her." London said with a small grin.

"Captain Langsford, I would like you to make a detour into America." Moseby said into the phone.

London then took the phone from Moseby, who looked at her in surprise.

"Because if you don't do it, I'll get daddy to fire you. We have to go to America." London said.

A second later there was a large honk from the ship's horn, indicating a change in course.

"Thank you captain. Yes, we'll be getting out in Florida. I'll explain to the passengers tomorrow, make something up. Thank you again." Moseby said, and Tutweiller was looking at him with fierce pride.

"Mr Moseby...thanks..." Cody said humbly.

Moseby took a steadying breath. His entire job was on the line, he knew that. There would be dozens of complaints...but this was worth it he felt.

"You're welcome. Sometimes, love requires great sacrifices." He said, and Cody smiled at him.

"Right, so if we land in Florida, how do we get to Kettlecorn?" Maddie asked, looking to London.

Marcus grinned cockily.

"I think I can help us there." He said and took out his own phone.

Everyone looked at him oddly, and he winked.

"Don't worry pal, I'll get us to Bailey. Hannah! Hi, it's Marcus. Yeah, Lil'Little. How are you?"

"Hannah Montana?" Maddie asked incredulously, and London looked murderous.

"Must be. Wow..." Cody said, touched that everyone was so willing to help him and Bailey.

"Yeah, well I'll explain everything when I see you. But know that favour you owe me? I'm calling to collect it. You're in Florida right? Good. Well, we'll land there in a day or so. What I want is to borrow your plane." Marcus said conspirationally.

Everyone around the table was holding their breath.

"Well a couple friends of mine broke up recently. Turns out her ex has been lying to her to get her to forget about Cody while he tries to stick his claws back into her, and he made Zack fight Cody to help with that. What, how do you know them? Yes, Cody and Bailey broke up. That's who we're going to save! That's why I need to borrow your plane, so we can tell Bailey the truth, and with any luck, get them back together!"

A few minutes later, Marcus grinned.

"Hannah, you're the best. I'll see you in Florida then. Cheers!"

He hung up and then met everyone's shocked faces.

"She owes me one for covering for her when her dad went looking for her once. She was actually on a date with Jake Ryan." He said.

"Marcus, I don't know what to say..." Cody said softly, and he waved it off.

"It's alright dude. We'll get her back, trust me. And even Hannah thinks you two are right for each other, and that it's a shame you broke up." Marcus said.

Cody looked around at them all, his closest friends, all determined to help him warn Bailey...they were all on his side.

"Guys, I don't know what to say..." he said uncertainly.

"Don't worry little buddy, we're all behind you. You just figure out what you're going to say to Bailey when we get to Kettlecorn." Kirby advised.

"Thanks everyone." Cody said, smiling at them.

"You're welcome. Right, we better hit the sack. I'm going to have a ship full of angry passengers tomorrow, I better think how I'm going to explain all this. Good night." Moseby said, and he left, and was followed a bit later by Tutweiller.

"You know Hannah Montana? Oh..." London said and got to her feet, and Marcus followed her, looking confused, and Zack grinned at Cody.

"Night little buddies." Kirby said and headed off.

"Thanks Zack." Cody said and hugged his brother goodnight, leaving him in the empty lounge with Maddie.

Zack sat down beside her, looking at her uncertainly.

"So...do you still want to go out with me? I mean, I wouldn't blame you if you didn't want to go out with such a bully..."

But what he was going to say next was cut off as Maddie kissed him passionately. Zack eagerly reciprocated the kiss and gently forced her back so that he was lying on top of her.

"Of course I want to go out with you. You were a horrible jerk yeah...but you fixed it. And besides, there's no one else I'd rather be with on this cruise than you. And if I wanted to break up with a guy just for being a jerk...well let's just say I would never have a long term relationship." She said softly and kissed him again.

"Thanks. I love you Maddie." Zack said, and he was surprised by how easily the words fell from his mouth.

Maddie looked up at him in shock. Zack, the world's biggest player, had just admitted genuine love for her. She looked up at him, and saw how uncertain he looked, worried that she wouldn't believe him, and she smiled sweetly.

"I love you too Zack."

Zack smiled and kissed her passionately, his insides dancing the conga and his heart crying out in triumph as he and the girl he loved admitted it for the first time. His hand wrapped around her neck and her tongue entered his mouth as the two young loves kissed like never before, together at last.

**So, here we reach the penultimate chapter!**

**So we have had the fight between Zack and Cody...and note that Cody actually technically won said fight. London was the one to smack Zack silly with the gold bar in her bag, bless her. And Moose is lying to Bailey and is trying to keep Cody from her. Well, the bond between the twins isnt the only thing he's underestimated... ;) **

**And even better, Zack and Maddie have admitted they love each other!**

**So next chapter, the crew are bound for Kettlecorn, where we shall have a guest appearance from Hannah Montana. So what will happen in the final chapter?**

**Will Bailey and Cody get back together? Will the evil Moose be thwarted? Who will rekindle an old romance? (bet you dont guess that one). How will it all end?**

**All will be revealed next time...**

**Until then, please read and review!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I do not own Suite Life or the song used**

Recovery

The ship glided over the ocean smoothly as it was bound for America. Moseby had gone before the passengers this morning and had explained that due to unforeseen circumstances, the ship would be making an unscheduled stop in America before going on to Mexico. After a lot of grumbling and making threats, the passengers had settled in to the fact that it would only knock half a day off their journey.

However, Cody was full of trepidation as the ship began docking procedures in Florida. For the last few days he had done nothing but worry about what was going to happen when he got to Kettlecorn. What if Bailey told him to go? What if she didn't care what Moose had done and wanted to stay with him? What if she thought he was lying?

But on the other hand, what would happen if she believed him? Would she come back to the ship? And if so...what then?

"Yoohoo, Cody..." Zack said gently, coming up beside him.

"Sorry, I was..." Cody said, focusing on his brother.

"Thinking about Bailey." Zack finished with a grin.

Cody shot his brother a dirty look, but there was no real force behind it. Yes, ever since he had broken up with Bailey he had been thinking about her an awful lot, and after he had discovered the extent of Moose's schemes to get her back, he had been thinking about her even more. Was he wrong to be wanting just to hold her to him, kiss her, run his hand through her hair, rub their noses together?

But the problem was Moose. The conniving hillbilly had tried to precipitate a massive fallout between Zack and Cody, and had nearly succeeded. He was also lying to Bailey, and was trying to get the girl that he was still in love with back.

Cody thought about Moose, and hated how much he was lying to Bailey. But what if she had gone back to Moose and didn't believe the truth that Moose had tried to keep him from seeing her again? What if the bond he had with her eclipsed Cody's on bond with her? What if...?

"Cody there's no good doing any more worrying until we get there. When we get there, then you can worry about what you're going to say to her." Zack said gently.

"But Zack, what if she...," he began hesitantly, wondering whether he should reveal his secret fear to his brother, "she's fallen back in love with Moose?" Cody asked weakly.

Zack looked sympathetically at his brother. But deep in his heart knew that faced with a choice, Bailey would only ever choose one guy.

"I don't know Cody. But have a little faith in her. You did find a girl who knows her own mind. She can make her own decisions remember." He soothed, and Cody smiled at him a little.

"So you reckon I should calm down?" he asked with a small smile.

"Yes. And remember, no matter what happens, we're all going to Kettlecorn with you. We're with you bro." Zack promised.

"I know." Cody said with a grin.

XX

Bailey brushed her hair absentmindedly for her date while she waited for Moose. Something was definitely wrong with the news Moose had given her. Cody wasn't the sort to move on to a new girlfriend straight away like that. Zack maybe, but not Cody. And why would Cody want to date Maddie? Cody had always made it clear that he was in love with only one girl: her. And it was Zack who loved Maddie, not Cody, and no matter what, Cody wouldn't do that to his brother. So that begged the question...had she been woefully wrong in her judgement of Cody?

No. He was the sweetest, kindest boy in the world, who would do anything just to make the girl he loved, and occasionally his brother, happy. He wasn't the sort who would move on so quickly after a bad breakup especially if he was in love with the girl he'd broken up. And he also wasn't the sort to steal the girl his brother liked just to make himself feel better. So if that was the case, only two possibilities remained.

One: Moose had gotten the names of the twins mixed up and couldn't figure out which one was her ex and which was his brother.

Or two: Moose was lying, trying to make her miserable in some twisted attempt to win her back and stop her going back to Cody.

Bailey sighed. It all came down to which ex she trusted more...and she knew which one she trusted more in a heartbeat. She shouldn't have left things the way she had with Cody. To tell the truth, in her heart she knew she shouldn't have ended things with Cody. Being away from him was so hard, she missed him so much it was like she had a constant hole in her heart. She should never assumed he would get over her with Maddie. She knew she was being slightly hypocritical in thinking Moose was lying to her about Cody and Maddie, but she had been distraught at the time, and if he was lying, he was doing it to keep her miserable...and most likely to get her back and keep her in Kettlecorn.

She never should have broken up with Cody. Perhaps it was time to either accept that she didn't have him anymore and move on with her life...or maybe it was time to try again. If the ship would take her back...maybe Cody would too.

But...was she right to be going on a date with Moose? If Cody found out that she was dating already it would destroy him. But...she didn't love Moose anymore. What she had felt for him was nothing compared to what she still felt for Cody. But would Cody even be interested?

It all came down to having to discover the truth. The truth about Cody, and about Moose...and above all the truth of her own feelings.

But did she really need help discovering her true feelings? No matter how fond she was of one of them...there was only one guy she loved. And that wasn't Moose. So, what did she do now?

She had to cancel the date. Steeling herself, she reached for her phone just as the bell rang, and she cursed, knowing he was already here.

Cursing she went to the door and prepared to let him down gently. But what if he was lying to her? Shouldn't she find out the truth and confront him about it?

"Hey Bailey, you ready?" Moose asked eagerly.

Bailey looked at her ex and the more she thought about it, the more suspicious he seemed. He had 'accidentally' deleted a text to stop her seeing...so was he actually telling the truth about it being an accident or was he lying to her to try and get her to forget about Cody? Time to find out.

"Yeah, I'm ready." She said, and bid goodbye to her mother as she took her coat off the peg.

Moose held out his hand, but when she didn't take it, he pulled it back, and while they chatted normally, she couldn't stop thinking...about her suspicions...and about the boy she loved: Cody.

XX

The sun was shining brightly as the ship docked in sunny Florida. With the entire group assembled, all of them with wellies under Cody's suggestion having heard from Bailey about the state of the farm village's ground, they all headed into a taxi to take them to the airport where they were to meet Hannah Montana.

"Do we have to meet her?" London whined.

"As she's lending us her plane to get to Kettlecorn, yes. What's your deal with Hannah anyway?" Marcus asked curiously.

"She didn't want to do the theme song for 'Yay Me' starring London." Zack said with a grin.

Cody looked outside at the passing city. London had once humiliated Bailey with 'Yay Me'.

Just thinking about Bailey being hurt still ripped him up, and the fact that Moose, who had claimed to be in love with her was doing it just to try and keep her in Kettlecorn. The very thought of that jerk trying to hold Bailey against her will made Cody's hands curl in anger.

Moose was lying to Bailey...his beautiful Bailey...he had to stop him, and if she didn't believe him, then he would cross that bridge when he came to it...

"Cody? You ok?" Kirby asked curiously, his bulk forcing him to take one of the fold down seats opposite them.

"Yeah, his head's in cloud Bailey land." Zack said teasingly, and Maddie lightly patted him on the arm in condemnation.

"Oh really? I seem to remember someone going off to cloud Maddie land when she first appeared on board." Cody said tartly, and Zack went scarlet as Maddie looked at him curiously.

"Um, well, that is to say..." Zack said awkwardly, while Maddie smiled coyly at him.

"Ooh, you sure sunk his boat." London said, glad to see Cody getting one up on Zack for a change.

"Well it's all very well us doing all this and going to get Bailey back, but what if she doesn't want to come back? Though I want her back so I can keep the high end of my grade curve..." Tutweiller said, rubbing her hands together gleefully.

"If she doesn't want to come, then that's fine." Cody said firmly, but his eyes betrayed him.

"Cody, we will try our hardest to get her to come back with us...if only to improve Emma's grade curve." Moseby promised, smiling at Tutweiller.

As the taxi pulled to a stop and London paid the driver, Zack took Cody aside.

"We will get her back bro, I promise." He said softly.

Cody nodded at his brother, then they followed Kirby, who was parting the crowd who were screaming outside the private terminal they had arrived at, where Hannah's plane was parked. Screaming fans were chanting Hannah's name, and it looked as if Hannah's security person was in trouble.

"Come on people, out of the way, V. coming through!" Kirby called loudly, and that just made the crowd scream louder and try to mob the party.

"Bad idea Kirby!" Marcus called.

"That's Lil'Little!" someone yelled, and Marcus went pale, his eyes widened and then the crowd surged towards him, him whimpering as they did so.

"Marcus?" London cried worriedly as fans of both he and Hannah swamped him.

"You ok in there buddy?" Zack asked in concern.

Kirby parted the crowd and withdrew a bedraggled and bemused Marcus from the hands of cloying hands of the fans. He then shouldered on, Marcus in his arms as he headed towards the plane. He then stopped short as he parted the last of the crowd and saw Hannah's security guard.

"Roxy!" he cried in delight, dropping Marcus as he did so, making Marcus yelp in pain.

"Kirby?" she demanded in delight, as Zack and Cody pulled Marcus to his feet, while he glared at Kirby.

Hannah Montana then poked her head out of her plane.

"Hurry up and get in, you can have your reunion in a minute!" she said as the crowd went nuts again and they all hurried inside and the door slammed shut behind them.

Cody looked around the interior of the plane, impressed. The seats were done in deep red, there was a cream carpet throughout, a small buffet bar was at the side of the plane that included a small oven for meals. There was a TV and a DVD player on the wall and several closets full of clothes.

"Wow, fancy." Moseby said.

"Hey Hannah, thanks for the save." Marcus said as he hugged her.

"You're welcome. What happened to you?" she asked with a grin as she surveyed his appearance.

"Your fans wanted someone famous. They couldn't get you so they went for me instead." He lamented.

"Sorry." She said sheepishly, then looked up in time to see Roxy and Kirby hugging.

"We were the best in our class at security training school." Kirby said proudly.

"And couple of the year." Roxy added in delight.

"Wait, what? You two dated?" Hannah demanded incredulously.

"My first true sweetheart." Kirby said reminiscently.

"I've missed you ya big lug!" Roxy cried and hugged Kirby, and the two of them went further back to catch up.

"Well, that was unexpected. Oh Cody, I'm sorry to hear about you and Bailey." Hannah said sympathetically.

"Yeah well, don't count him out just yet." Zack told her.

"Yeah, we've figured out her ex boyfriend is lying to her in a twisted attempt to keep her in Kettlecorn and try to keep her away from Cody. That's why we need your plane." Marcus explained.

Hannah looked at him in shock.

"That's sick. Why would he do that though?" she demanded.

London smiled a little.

"Because Goose knows full well that if Bailey had to choose, he would lose the choice." She said, and Cody smiled at her.

"Goose?" Hannah muttered to Moseby.

"Her ex-boyfriend. His actual name is Moose." He explained.

Hannah nodded.

"Right, I've heard all I needed to hear. Let's get out of here. Daddy?" she called, and Robby Ray stuck his head around the cockpit door.

"AAH! It's Robby Ray!" Tutweiller exclaimed in delight, while Moseby winced at the loudness of her voice.

"Ow." Moseby said in surprise, rubbing his ear tenderly.

"Where we headed to darling?" Robbie Ray asked.

"Kettlecorn. Know where that is? It's near Kettlepot." Cody said, anxiety rising in him again.

"Kettlecorn it is sonny. Hold on and strap yourselves in!" Robbie said, and headed back to the cockpit.

Hannah looked at them as the plane prepared to take off.

"So he's lying to her to keep her in Kettlecorn? That's low." She said, frowning.

"All of this because of a stupid fight, because we didn't trust each other..." Cody lamented, and Moseby clapped his shoulder.

"Don't give up yet Cody. We know Moose is lying to her and we know she still has strong feelings for you. You might not have lost her yet. Ooh, nibbles!" he said excitedly as he saw Hannah open a cupboard and reveal several packets of nuts.

"Are the wellies really necessary?" Marcus asked as he surveyed his own pair, ignoring the giggles coming from Kirby and Roxy in the back.

"From everything Bailey told me, yeah." Cody said with a smile.

"Wellies don't go with anything." London whined.

"You look beautiful no matter what London." Marcus said with a grin, and she shook her head, making his grin dip a little bit.

"They make me look like a farm girl." She complained.

Cody looked out of the window, thinking. _Farm girls are the most beautiful sort of girl anyway. Well, at least my one is_.

"Look at it this way London. If you fall over, you'll get horse muck all over your dress. And how fashionable will that look?" Zack asked with a smirk, and she immediately kicked off her heels, one hitting Tutweiller in the back of the head as she pulled on her wellies.

Cody thought about it. He loved Bailey with all his heart. Moose was lying to her and wanted her to stay in Kettlecorn with him. What would happen if she had fallen back in love with him? Most boyfriends would probably try to convince themselves that it didn't matter, but Cody knew that if she had gone back to Moose it would shatter him. But...it was Bailey. She wouldn't do that to him. He knew that now. He believed he knew her well enough to know that she wouldn't get over him so quickly. So, unless she was the actress of the century, she still felt something for him. But the question was did she still love him?

Zack looked across at his brother while feasting on some Bombay mix. Strangely he wasn't worried. It was clear that he and Bailey belonged together. And, Zack didn't quite know what made him feel this way, but he felt his brother's confidence was improving. The fact that he was willing to cross half the world in order to get her back showed how much he loved her despite all that had happened.

He sat down beside Cody, who was looking at the land and the clouds through the window.

"You've got Bailey on the brain." He said in a sing song voice.

"Leave him alone Zack." Maddie scolded as she sipped a soda.

Cody turned and looked at Zack worriedly, his eyes looking uncertain. Zack could tell that his brother was worried about seeing Bailey, worried she had moved on, worried she had given up on him...

"We're going to be right there beside you bro." Zack promised, squeezing his hand.

Cody nodded.

"I know. And I'm grateful for that. It's just I'm worried about when we get down there. That git is lying through his teeth to her, manipulating her just to keep her in Kettlecorn. She wouldn't even be in this mess if..."

Zack put his hand over Cody's mouth and looked at him fiercely.

"Don't you dare start blaming yourself. This mess is Moose's doing, not yours. And even Bailey, no matter how perfect you reckon she is, is entitled to get one dud guy." He said firmly.

Cody pulled his hand away and looked at his brother sadly.

"Don't you mean two dud guys?" he asked in a quiet voice, and Zack shook his head adamantly.

"No way. Unless you're talking about Holden. You are not a dud, and I reckon you're the best thing that ever happened to her." Zack said, and Cody smiled at him hesitantly.

"Thanks Zack." He said.

"You're welcome. And will you stop worrying? Look, it's not every guy who'll travel half way across the world just to tell them they still love a girl." Zack said.

Cody looked at him sharply, and Zack grinned, ignoring Maddie's reproving glare.

"We're going to tell her Moose is lying to her." Cody said firmly.

"Oh? And you're just doing this because you're an honest person?" Zack teased, but at Cody's look he desisted and looked away. Cody hoped he wouldn't notice the slight blush that had just come onto his cheeks, but the grin that was on Zack's face told him otherwise.

"Alright you win. Maybe I'll tell her that I'm still in love with her." Cody said hesitantly, and Zack turned and gave him a smile.

"Good! You two still have it bad for each other and you're clearly not over each other. And I reckon she still loves you too, so when we get there, tell her how you feel!" Zack urged.

Cody grinned half heartedly.

"I suppose I can't help but be in love with her." He admitted ruefully.

Zack put his arm around Cody's shoulder and whispered into his ear.

"Just like me and Maddie. I reckon I always did love her. So I just want to say thanks for, you know, helping with that." He said quietly, and Cody smiled.

"You're welcome Zack. And it took you long enough to admit it." He teased, and Zack shot him a dirty look before heading back to sit beside his girlfriend.

"I heard all of that." She said with a wicked grin.

"You dirty devil." Zack said and kissed her, ignoring the sounds of Kirby and Roxy far behind them.

A while later, Robby Ray called that he had Kettlecorn in sight, and he was going to put down at the airport, such as it was, between Kettlecorn and Kettlepot. The airport consisted of a tarmaced strip with a big turnaround at the end and a small shed.

"Whoa, and I thought she was primitive." London said sniffily.

"Marcus, really?" Hannah asked in an undertone.

Marcus gave her a scolding look.

"Yeah I know she can be a bit of a snob. But underneath all that, even if she is a bit ditzy, she really is sweet." Marcus said.

Hannah looked slightly concerned, but nodded. She had learnt the hard way with Jake Ryan not to interfere with romance that wasn't her business. And, she supposed that underneath it all London probably really wasn't that bad, it was just the fact that she had been raised to get everything she wanted.

"Well I'll be! It's Robby Ray!" an elderly man cried out in delighted shock as he led the way from the plane.

Robby was about to say something when an old woman came out of the shack that seemed to be the terminal, and giving an excited squeal she immediately dialled a number on her phone.

"Robby Rae's at my airport!" she cried excitedly.

Robby went up to them, but couldn't get a word in edge ways as people from nearby rushed down and started talking to him. Hannah looked at them in shock.

"Hey! What about me?" she demanded.

"Who cares about some teenager? Robby Ray Stewart is here!" a woman yelled, jumping up and down.

"Sorry honey, but looks like I'm still famous! So I can keep the plane here?" he asked, and they all screamed an assent.

"Give us a song Robby!"

"I love you Robby!"

Robby grinned at Hannah, who rolled her eyes and went inside the plane, eventually coming out with a microphone lead.

"Thanks sweetheart. Now folks, thank you Kettlepot for that warm welcome!" he cried over the amp and the crowd burst into applause.

"Wow, who'd have thought it?" Tutweiller asked curiously, looking at the display, and pretending not to notice as Kirby and Roxy snuck out, looking dishevelled and headed into the audience.

"Well we can't stay here. We need to go and find Bailey." Maddie said as Robby began to sing 'Achey Breaky Heart'.

Cody looked at them uncertainly.

"Look you don't need to come if you don't want to, I'll go myself." He said, but Zack shook his head.

"We're with you Cody. So, lead us!" he urged, and Cody smiled at his brother and started walking towards the street.

"Come along Emma. We promised we would help Cody." Moseby scolded, and grabbed her hand and led her away, while Tutweiller looked wistfully at the crowd around Robby Ray and an irate looking Hannah.

XX

Bailey sighed as Moose walked her back to the farm. While it had seemed a relatively good film, Bailey hadn't been paying much attention. Her mind had been on Cody the entire time. Thinking about how much she missed him, how bad she felt about leaving things the way she did, how guilty she felt of even thinking Cody would fall for another girl so quickly. He wouldn't do that to her, and he wouldn't do that to Zack. He just wasn't built like that. Which of course left one unavoidable conclusion: Moose was lying through his teeth to her.

However, that raised the question of why he was lying to her. He had told her Cody had moved on and was dating Maddie. What did he stand to gain from making her feel more miserable, unless he wished to try and make her stay in Kettlecorn. And then that also raised the question of how he knew to lie to her. She knew she definitely hadn't told him about her Cody and Maddie suspicions. The only person she had told was her mother...

And then abruptly it hit her. He had been eavesdropping. When she had arrived in Kettlecorn as suddenly as she had, gossip had quickly spread, and her mother had told the entire town that she had been going out with Cody. Moose had obviously heard and had done exactly what Holden had done and had tried to make a move, and when he had went to her house he had heard her tell her mother about her suspicions. And then the wily hillbilly had decided to exploit her, manipulate her fragile emotions to try and keep her here in Kettlecorn, and here with him.

Bailey had to admit, he was a lot smarter than she had ever given him credit for.

But no more. She was on to him now, she knew what he was up to. And she knew what she had to do now: deal with Moose, then see if she could get back on to the ship and try to fix things with Cody.

Because it was clear to her now that there was room for only one guy in her life, and that guy definitely wasn't Moose.

"Moose, I was wondering, did that text Cody sent mention me at all?" she asked hesitantly.

Moose grinned inwardly. Now was another chance to further drive a wedge between Cody and Bailey, and make sure she never thought about him again. He knew it was wrong, but she would be happier, here with him, rather than on the ship with Cody. Moose loved her and he would do whatever he could to make sure she didn't go back to him. After all, only he knew what was best for his girl.

"Um...yeah." he said hesitantly, as though not wanting to hurt her feelings.

Bailey looked at him with sad eyes.

"What did he say?"

"Well he said he was really happy with Maddie, happier than he was with you...I reckon you're well shot of him."

Even though Bailey knew Moose was lying, it still stung a bit. How far was he willing to go just to keep her in Kettlecorn? Was he actually deluded enough that he believed she would fall back in love with him?

"Maybe...and I bet he gave me a long list of my faults too..." she said miserably, about to spring her trap.

Moose grinned. Excellent. She was going to give him ammo to use against her and convince her that the Cody boy was no good for her, that she ship was no good for her, and that she belonged here in Kettlecorn, with him, as a good, hardworking normal farm wife.

"Yeah he did yeah..." Moose said, making his face a mask of sympathy.

Bailey nearly had him. She had to know if he was lying to her, to confirm it, even though her every instinct was telling her she was right and he was lying through his teeth.

"I bet he told you how I changed our course during the middle of the night and got us stranded on an island, how I got so stupidly competitive with him, how I got us to have a wild goose chase across the ship because I didn't to my homework, and how annoying I was when we had to pretend to be married."

Moose stared at her with wide eyes. They had to pretend to be married? That boy was definitely more of a threat than he had thought. Lying was definitely the best option here. If he made her think Cody hated her, thought she was impossible to live with, she would never want to go back to the ship and would stay here where she belonged.

"Yeah. He said you were horribly needy and that he could do without that, and that your competitive edge just got on his nerves..." Moose broke off, seeing Bailey smile.

"What?" he asked, wondering why she would be smiling when he was telling her things that ought to be making her want to stay in Kettlecorn. But on closer inspection, it wasn't her usual beautiful smile, it was more a predatory leer, like a lion observing a trapped zebra.

"You see Moose...it wasn't me who did those things. It was him." She said simply, and Moose felt his stomach collapse.

She was on to him.

"Which means you've most likely been lying to me all along. See, Cody was never interested in Maddie. I should have seen that from the start. The problem was I was an emotional wreck when I saw them and assumed the worst, which is what broke me and Cody up in the first place. It was always Zack who loved Maddie. See, Cody wouldn't do that to Zack...or to me for that matter. And I should have known that. Now see Moose, I could have maybe thought you'd gotten them confused, but the way you kept going in, running him down trying to make him into the bad guy I know he isn't, made it clear you were lying. More and more, beyond the realms of any mistake you might have made. Meaning you were lying to me for a reason. What was it Moose? Did you figure that if you made me upset enough I would go back to you?" she demanded, her eyes full of righteous fury and anger, having confirmed he had been lying to her and had tried to make her totally forget about Cody.

Any guilt she might have had for going along with her plan evaporated. He had lied to her in order to try to keep her here, away from Cody, away from the guy she loved. And she was furious.

"Look, you don't belong out there! You belong here in Kettlecorn, with me! You just don't know what's good for you, that's your problem! You belong here, that's why I lied to you! Your job is to stay at home, raise kids, not go out into the world with some little geek!" Moose yelled.

Bailey took a step back. So that was what it came down to. Moose felt she was wasting her time, and that she belonged here in Kettlecorn, with him making all her decisions, like a good submissive housewife.

"You egotistical jerk. You dare think I would ever marry you, become your stay at home wife? This isn't the 1920s! I will never submit to you, and I am going back to the ship. And for me going around the world with some little geek, Cody is the sweetest, kindest, most loving guy a girl could never want, he has more brains in his very cute backside than you do in your entire body, he's ten times more attractive than you and a thousand times the man you are. I still love him, and breaking up with him was the worst mistake I ever made!" She yelled, preparing to slap him.

Moose took a stagger backwards, as if shocked by what she had said, and Bailey shot him a look of deep disgust before turning towards the house, deciding not to demean herself.

And then Moose grabbed her wrist.

XX

The group finally reached Bailey's farm, and as they went through the wheat crops, they could hear the sounds of a full blown argument.

"That doesn't sound good." Zack said worriedly, and despite being waylaid by their wellies sticking into the mud, they hurried onwards, and stopped just at the edge of the wheat crop, to hear the last part of the argument.

"...Cody is the sweetest, kindest, most loving guy a girl could never want, he has more brains in his very cute backside than you do in your entire body, he's ten times more attractive than you and a thousand times the man you are. I still love him, and breaking up with him was the worst mistake I ever made!"

Cody felt a smile unlike one he had for days spread across his face. Bailey felt that strongly about him still, still loved him, after everything they had been through, had said to each other...

"See, told you she still loved you!" Marcus said with a grin, and just before Cody could reply, Bailey yelped in surprise.

Without waiting for the others to pull their legs out of the mud that had them stuck, Cody rushed out of the crop, to see Moose dragging her back towards him.

"You will learn to love me again Bailey. I know whats best for you and you ain't goin back to that ship! You're staying here where you belong!" he hollered, and Bailey glared at him, struggling in his grip and getting ready to knee him where it hurt.

"Get your filthy hands off of her!" Cody yelled and smacked Moose's hands off of Bailey, and placing himself in between her and Moose.

"Cody?" Bailey demanded incredulously.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Moose demanded, his fists curling.

"Oh I can't see this ending well...Cody's gonna get pulverised. I can't watch!" Zack wailed, hissing his eyes.

Maddie looked at her boyfriend. Though she should tell him off for not having confidence in his brother, she could see where he was coming from. Cody was a lover not a fighter. Worriedly, she bit her lip.

"I'm here to tell Bailey you're lying to her. You told her I was going out with Maddie to make her miserable, to try and keep her here with you. And you also told Zack some lie about me liking Maddie so he would fall out with me and I would be so miserable I wouldn't even try and get Bailey back." Cody spat, the angriest anyone had ever seen him.

Bailey looked at Moose in horror. She thought he had just been lying to her, but he had tried to split Cody and Zack apart? That was beyond low.

"You bastard. Get off my property and I never want to see you again. I am going back to the ship and if I never see you again it won't be a day too soon." She said venomously.

Moose looked at the two of them, and growled, and looked as if he was about to turn away. No one moved and there was no sound as Cody and Moose glared at each other, hating each other, Cody hating Moose because he had lied to Bailey and had tried to make Zack turn on him, and Moose hating Cody because he knew there was no chance of Bailey staying now his lies had been revealed. Maddie looked at the scene worriedly, and she saw Marcus squeeze London's hand as they looked on at the scene in fixated horror, and Moseby and Tutweiller were looking at each other nervously. Maddie was shaking in trepidation, and Zack was groaning under his voice and was still hiding his eyes.

And then Moose gave a roar and dived at Cody and Bailey. Cody shoved Bailey backwards, out of harms way, then brought his leg right up into Moose's groin. Moose wheezed, and Cody punched him in the stomach, making him double over. Cody then smashed him in the nose, jerking Moose's head up, then smacked him right in the face. Moose twirled in a daze then came at Cody again. Cody smashed his foot into Moose's chin, then swung and kicked him in the chest. Moose staggered and Cody slammed his fist into Moose's nose, blood spurting everywhere. Cody then clocked him in the stomach again, and followed up with another kick to the chin. Moose staggered backwards, and Cody punched him in the cheek again. Moose did a sort of pirouette, then as he turned away from a livid Cody, he staggered and fell face down into a mound of horse dung.

Cody glared down at Moose, adrenaline pumping through him, breathing hard. Moose pulled his face out of the dung, gave Cody a frightened look, then ran away screaming.

Cody smirked in triumph, then became aware of the pain in his hand.

"Ow, he has a really hard jaw!" he cried, rubbing it tenderly.

"Cody..." Bailey said in utter shock, taking his hand in her hands and rubbing them gently.

"Wow, that was amazing!" Marcus said excitedly.

"Who knew?" London asked with a grin, proud of her friend.

"He did it! Oh bravo!" Moseby cried, clapping his hands.

"That was ruddy marvellous!" Tutweiller said in delight.

"Zack, it's ok, you can look!" Maddie said ecstatically.

"How bad is he?" Zack moaned, not wanting to see his brother's surely mangled form.

"A sore hand, but that's it, he beat Moose!" she said, jumping up and down.

"Huh?" Zack asked in confusion, pulling his hands away from his eyes.

"Cody, how did you...why...?" Bailey asked, her thumb gently stroking the bruise that was flaring up on his hand.

Cody looked down at his hand, with Bailey's hand gently caressing it, and found it didn't hurt at all. After wanting to see her, wanting to tell her everything, here she was, as beautiful as ever...and he was just as in love as ever.

"I came because I found out he was lying to you to keep you miserable. I couldn't let him exploit you like that. I got Moseby to direct the ship here so I could come and tell you...what he was doing and that...that...I still love you." He admitted.

Bailey looked at him in wide eyed surprise.

"You brought the entire ship from Tunisia to America, then travelled halfway across the states, just to tell me Moose was lying to me? To protect me?" she asked breathlessly.

Cody nodded.

"I told you once before...I would go to the ends of the earth to make you happy." He said softly.

"Cody...that is the sweetest, most wonderful thing anyone has ever done for me. And I still love you too." She said, and kissed him.

At first the two of them were hesitant, but then their emotions kicked in and the longing and desire they both felt rushed from them and Cody wrapped his arms around Bailey, one around her waist and the other tangling itself in her hair as he pulled her close the two of them melting into the kiss as the reunited lovers reconciled. Cody gently probed her mouth with his tongue and she obliged and the two of them kissed deeper than ever before, as Bailey wrapped her arms around his neck, gently stroking his blond hair as they pressed together and locked lips and tongues. After what seemed like an age the two of them broke off and grinned at each other.

"Did you mean what you said?" he asked, hesitantly rubbing his nose against hers.

"Yeah...including the part about your cute rear." She said with a beautiful smile.

"Well I agree...it was the worst thing we ever did. And if you want to try again..." he said, and Bailey kissed him again, and his heart screamed in joy as the two of them kissed, together again at last.

"Of course I do." She said as they broke off, her insides going berserk as she was reunited with the man she loved.

"I love Bailey bunny." He said with his wonderful smile.

"I love you too Cody kitten." She said sweetly with her dazzling grin and they kissed once again as the others came out of the crops.

They broke off again and Bailey smiled as she saw everyone.

"What are you all doing here?" she asked in delight, though not letting go of Cody's bruised hand.

"We came to help Cody. It's good to see you Bailey. You coming back?" Maddie asked with such a beautiful grin, it stopped Zack's heart.

"Can't be with my guy if I don't can I?" she asked, and she and Cody smiled at each other, and then she hugged her friend.

"Welcome home...I know your name..." London said in confusion and Bailey laughed as she hugged her friend, while Marcus rolled his eyes.

"I'm so proud of you." Zack said and hugged Cody.

"Thanks Zack. For believing I could do this." Cody said with a smile that made Zack feel so happy to see again, he could be walking on air.

"It's great to have you back baby brother.," Zack said and ruffled Cody's hair.

"You did great buddy." Marcus said gruffly and hugged Cody, who smiled.

"You did the right thing, protecting Bailey. I'm very proud of you." Moseby said, patting Cody's shoulder proudly.

"Hey, y'all get off my land!" Bailey's mother yelled as she came dashing out the house, waving a rolling pin.

"Mom, it's alright. These are my friends." Bailey said, taking Cody's hand again as she finished hugging Miss Tutweiller.

"Oh right...where's Moose?" she asked in confusion.

"A real man saw him off." Bailey said with a smile and kissed Cody deeply again, which he eagerly responded to.

"Cody I take it?" Bailey's mother asked Moseby, who nodded.

"Together again at last." Tutweiller said with relish.

Bailey's mother smiled, happy that her daughter was back with the boy she was clearly head over heels in love with. She beckoned the others into the house, leaving Cody and Bailey standing outside, kissing each other deeply.

XX

After a hearty dinner at the Pickett farm, Bailey and the others bid a goodbye to Bailey's mother.

"You look after my girl now." Her mother warned as she shook Cody's hand.

"Don't worry, I will." Cody said, smiling at Bailey lovingly.

As the others carried Bailey's things to the cab that would take them back to the plane, Bailey received a final hug from her mother.

"You did well for yourself with that one. He's a keeper." She whispered.

Bailey looked out the window at her man, who was patiently trying to explain to London how the plane couldn't come and pick them up.

"Yeah, he is." She said, waving as he turned and saw her looking, her already brilliant mood increased even further by the wave she got back.

XX

A few hours later, the plane was on autopilot, bound back for Florida. Robby Ray was happily counting the money he had accumulated.

"Wooee, it's been years since women tried to stick cash down my pants. Sweet nibblets, that was a good crowd!" he crowed in delight as he reached the two hundred and fifty mark.

Hannah looked at him irritably.

"Typical. I'm the star now, and we go to the one place where they haven't heard of me! Oh I need to do a concert or he'll be hell to live with." She grumbled.

Moseby and Tutweiller, holding hands, grinned at each other and leaned forward.

"Well...I can think of somewhere that could do with an impromptu concert..." he said suggestively, and Hannah smiled.

At the back, Kirby and Roxy were chatting, catching each other up on everything that had happened to them in the years apart. Maddie was sleeping on Zack's shoulder, and Zack was contentedly stroking her hair, looking the happiest anyone had ever seen him. Cody and Bailey were holding hands and were kissing.

And London came up to Hannah.

"Well Hannah...I just wanted to say thank you. If it wasn't for you, Cody and Bailey wouldn't have gotten back together and would both still be miserable. So thanks for helping my friends." She said, holding out her hand.

Hannah looked at London in surprise, then at Marcus, who was looking as surprised as she felt. Smiling, Hannah nodded.

"You're welcome London." She said, and shook the heiress' hand.

XX

The group arrived back at the ship, which was full of hustle and bustle as the crew prepared for the dance that night. As the group entered the foyer and saw Cody and Bailey holding hands, applause and whistles filled the room as everyone celebrated the cute couple getting back together, and their friends celebrated the return of Bailey.

After getting away from the now happy passengers, Cody pulled Bailey into an alcove.

"Bailey...will you go to the dance with me tonight?" he asked with a handsome grin.

Bailey flashed him her beautiful smile.

"Of course I will." She said and kissed him, forcing him into the wall as she did so and Cody smiled as the two stayed there, ignoring the looks of those who went past.

XX

"Ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased to welcome...Hannah Montana!" Moseby called, and the people on the deck went nuts as Hannah came onto the stage, waving as she did so.

"Hello S.S Tipton...you might have heard the story of how I came to be here, of how a guy who loved a girl was willing to risk everything just to tell a girl he still loved her and that her ex was a bum...so this song is for them. I think it suits them at the moment." She said with a smile and the crowd cheered as the infamous couple, Cody and Bailey came to the top of the stairs, Cody in his tux and Bailey in her dress, holding hands.

They descended the stairs, and Hannah picked up the microphone.

"This is borrowed from my good friend Bonnie Tyler...

_Where have all the good men gone and_

_Where are all the gods?_

_Where's the streetwise Hercules to fight the rising odds?_

_Isn't there a white knight upon a fiery steed?_

_Late at night, I toss and I turn and I dream of what I need_!

Hit it!

_I need a hero! I'm holding out for a hero till the end of the night_!"

As Hannah hit the high note, Cody and Bailey moved on from a slow dance to a passionate sort of tango. Zack and Maddie then descended the stairs and joined the dance, just as passionate as Cody and Bailey's dance. Marcus and London arrived next and easily adapted into the dance. Woody and Addison were next, and they were followed by Moseby and Tutweiller as the five couples danced away, and were joined by the other passengers.

The night was over all too soon, after much more dancing and many songs, and the friends bid goodbye to Hannah, who wished them luck on the next part of their journey and waved to them as she left.

The sky deck slowly emptied, with Woody and Addison going off for a late night bite to eat, Marcus walking London back to her cabin, a cheerful Moseby and Tutweiller heading off for a drink, a grinning Kirby driving Roxy back to the plane, and an intrigued and grinning Zack being dragged by Maddie back to her cabin with a wicked look in her eye.

Leaving Cody and Bailey alone on the skydeck. Cody came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her and she melted into his touch.

"Has anyone told you that you're the best boyfriend in the whole world?" she asked softly.

Cody smiled and kissed her cheek.

"They don't need to. The only one who I need to hear that from is you." He said.

Bailey turned and smile up at him, looking at him with a lustful expression in her eyes.

"Well you are. I," she said, kissing his forehead, "love," she continued, kissing his cheek, "you," she carried on, kissing his other cheek, "Cody." She finished huskily and kissed him passionately on the mouth.

"I love you too Bailey. And never forget it. I love you too." He said and returned her passionate kiss as the starts sparkled overhead and the waves lapped against the side of the boat.

They broke off, and Bailey smiled and took his hand, and slowly, kissing all the way, they headed inside, together once more.

**And so we reach the end!**

**Cody and Bailey are back together, and the evil Moose has been thwarted. That's the last we'll see of him.**

**A happy ending all round, all our couples togethe,r even Kirby and Roxy (bet you didnt see that one coming). Thanks to Robby Ray and Hannah Montana as they made all of it possible our favourite couple is finally back together!**

**He he...and it could be that a couple of them might get even closer that night...**

**Anyway, that is now the end of Recovery! I hope you enjoyed it, because I certainly liked writing it. The song is meant to be the version from Shrek 2, the other one isnt fast enough for what was required, but its still one of my favourite songs. Other songs sung that night include Livin La Vida Loca, Can't Be Tamed, Just Can't Get Enough and Don't Stop Me Now.**

**However, this is not the last you will see of me in Suite Life, as I have an entirely new story plotted out that will be coming your way one day (hopefully) soon! It will be slightly different from the Suite Life we're all used to, and a new character is in the offing...**

**But until then, thank your for reading, I hope you enjoyed it, and please read and review! **


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